Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan will hold talks in January on constructing a long-delayed $2-2.5 billion pipeline to transport gas from Turkmenistan, an Afghan official said on Wednesday. "There are three problems to be addressed," Hakim Khan Taniwal, Afghan labour minister, told Reuters. "Pakistan should say how much energy it needs. Afghanistan should look into the security of this pipeline. And Turkmenistan should confirm the reserves."
He said the talks would take place in Islamabad.
Proposals to build a pipeline through Afghanistan to export gas from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad field were actively discussed during the late 1990s.
Hopes of stability in Afghanistan and signals from India this year that it might agree to import natural gas from Pakistan have revived interest in the project.
Taniwal, in the Turkmen capital for an oil and gas conference, gave no further details on the talks.