An increasingly hostile posture by the Indian government has not only been putting a question mark on the future of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project,but also giving a severe blow to efforts to achieve the regional integration and meet the growing demands of energy for the countries in the region. The project involves many countries, including Malaysia and China which are preparing to get their share of construction work in it. The newspaper reports suggest that the Asian Development Bank is also willing to offer $1 billion loan to finance the project. If China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a game changer, the Tapi and Iran Pakistan gas pipelines is also a blow of fresh air for the industries in the region. However, India is not missing any opportunity to let down Pakistan at any international for a and is putting political and economic pressure on Islamabad to distract the attention of the world community from uprising in the Occupied Kashmir. The Indian army, police and paramilitary forces have let loosed a reign of terror in the Held Valley and beleaguered New Delhi government is trying its best to label Pakistan as a terrorist state. When both Pakistan and India have declared several members of the diplomatic corps of each other’s country as persona non grata, the peace is slipping out of the hands of the world community.
The Indian government has not only created a tense situation on the borders, but also in their own country by launching anti-people ventures. However, the Tapi project is vital not only for Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also for India and it is a matter of time the Indian government would come to terms and will accept peace as the only choice. The offer of $1 billion loan is generous as the total project will cost not less than $10 billion. The United States also supports the project though that country is not happy with the corridor project between Pakistan and China. The international community should support the projects of regional integration for peace and stability as the development of infrastructure will be in the interest of each country in the region. Turkmenistan is blessed with huge gas reserves and Russia and some European countries are gettinga lion share of it. According to experts, the interdependence of the countries will ensure peace in the region. The Islamic Development Bank has also offered $500 million loans for the project. The Turkmen government will bear 85 percentcost of the project whereas Afghanistan, Pakistan and India each will share at least 5 percentcost at their ends.
Earlier, India was willing to participate in Iran, Pakistan and India gas pipeline project but backtracked at a later stage. That is the psyche of the Indian politicians to spoil the peace and economy of the region to get popular vote intact in their country.
