DTN News - ECONOMY NEWS: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan Sign Agreement On Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline

DTN News - ECONOMY NEWS: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan Sign Agreement On Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Dawn News (Pakistan)

(NSI News Source Info) ASHGABAT - December 11, 2010: The leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan on Saturday agreed to move forward with a complicated and risky plan to build a natural gas pipeline across rugged territory plagued by war and terrorism.

The pipeline, which would terminate in India, would bring huge amounts of gas to underdeveloped regions and could earn impoverished Afghanistan hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees.

The route for the 1,700-kilometer TAPI pipeline from gas-rich Turkmenistan would cross Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province, where the Taliban and international forces are locked in battle, as well as some of Pakistan’s unruly tribal areas.

Concerns about security for the pipeline itself and for the workers who construct it have cast doubt on the project’s near-term feasibility, but proponents say it would calm the chaotic region.

”Along with commercial and economic benefits, this project will also yield a stabilizing influence on the region and beyond” Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said after the leaders signed a document supporting the project.

”Afghanistan will live up to its obligations in ensuring the pipeline’s construction and safety,” said Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose undertrained army struggles against the resurgent Taliban.

The project has also won vocal support from the United States, which is strongly opposed to India and Pakistan drawing supplies from Iran through another proposed gas pipeline.

Contents of the document signed by Karzai, Berdymukhamedov, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian petroleum minister Murli Deora were not immediately made public.

But the apparent next step will be to secure financial backing and firm bids from energy companies, which could prove an uphill struggle for a project so fraught with potential risks.

”This will not be an easy project to complete it is mandatory that we guarantee the security of the pipeline and the quality of construction work,” Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

Kuroda said his bank would offer its backing to the pipeline, but gave no specific details on how it would do so.

Turkmenistan, which is believed to hold the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves, is eager to find new markets for its potentially gargantuan energy exports amid flagging interest from Russia, its traditional client.

Plans to build a pipeline transporting the former Soviet nation’s gas to Western Europe to date remain hazy ambitions.

Berdymukhamedov said the pipeline would deliver up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually, welcome relief for energy-parched nations along the route.

According to a preliminary breakdown, India and Pakistan would each get about 42 per cent of the gas and Afghanistan the remainder.

Attempts to build a pipeline through Afghanistan date back to the mid-1990s, when the US-led consortium Unocal was locked in fierce competition with Argentina’s Bridas to win a deal to construct and run the route.

But as the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, those ambitions were shelved and remained so during the next decade’s war.

Turkmen officials estimate that construction of the pipeline could generate around 12,000 jobs in Afghanistan and earn it several hundred millions dollars annually in transit fees.

Turkmenistan has sought to broaden its client base after Russia sharply cut back its imports from the Central Asian nation. A 1,800-kilometer pipeline to China began pumping natural gas late last year.

The scale of those commitments have elicited doubt among some energy experts that Turkmenistan will be able to fill the TAPI pipeline.

Berdymukhamedov insisted Saturday that recent surveys by Turkmen specialists at the vast South Yolotan field, from which much of the gas is expected to be drawn, appear to suggest reserves may be even larger than previously believed.

An independent British auditing company reported in 2008 that the field may hold up to 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, but Berdymukhamedov said the figure may be closer to 22 trillion cubic meters.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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DTN News: Turkmenistan To Order 3 Boeing 737 Jets for $120 Million

DTN News: Turkmenistan To Order 3 Boeing 737 Jets for $120 Million

*Source: DTN News / Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan - August 3, 2009: Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ordered the state airline to buy three Boeing (BA.N) jets, according to a decree published on Monday. Turkmenistan Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkmenistan. The airline connects its home base of Ashgabat with destinations in Russia, Europe and Asia. All its international flights are operated by Western-trained pilots using two-class configuration Boeing aircraft. The gas-rich Central Asian state will pay a total of $120 million for the Boeing 737-700 planes, the document said. It gave no other details of the deal. Turkmenistan, unlike many other former Soviet states, has used its natural gas export revenues to replace its entire fleet of ageing Russian-made jets with Western-assembled aircraft since gaining independence from Moscow in 1992. (Reporting by Marat Gurt; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov)

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad To Visit Kazakhstan On April 6

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad To Visit Kazakhstan On April 6

(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN - April 6, 2009: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will arrive in Kazakhstan on Monday for talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, his press service said on Saturday. The two-day visit, Ahmadinejad's first visit to Astana since his 2005 election, will focus on bilateral relations, with special attention paid to the possible introduction of a moratorium on sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea. Russia banned commercial sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea in 2002 in an effort to combat the species' declining population, which has been cut more than 95% in the last 15 years due to rampant poaching.

Caspian Sea sturgeon accounts for almost 90% of the world's black caviar. According to Russian experts, who said illegal sales of the delicacy were cut in half in 2008, it will take at least 10 years to restore the sturgeon population in Russian waters. The Caspian Sea's five littoral states - Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran - have not reached agreement on its status since the breakup of the Soviet Union, complicating joint efforts in the region.

Obama Administration Must Learn Lessons Of Manas

Obama Administration Must Learn Lessons Of Manas

(NSI News Source Info) March 16, 2009: Once Kyrgyzstan succumbed to Russian pressure and unceremoniously evicted the United States from its base at Manas, media attention turned to the question of alternatives. A careful discussion of possible alternatives to Manas requires that a distinction be made between routes for non-military logistics, and facilities from which military missions can and do take place. When these two issues are separated, it becomes clear that alternative solutions for the shipment of non-lethal item bound for Afghanistan have been found. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan are all cooperating with the United States in the opening of a new supply network. The fact that Russia is also participating in this northern supply network suggests that Moscow wanted to make a geopolitical point with the Manas eviction.

The Kremlin wanted to ensure that Manas never developed into a permanent US hub in Central Asia, while at the same time showing the leaders of Central Asian states who’s still the region’s dominant player. Whether or not this message has been properly received remains unclear. But outside observes of the US campaign and the Central Asian scene need to properly understand Moscow’s motives in this episode. There has been a lot of media speculation about possible alternative sites for a US military base in Central Asia. This author has heard of four such examples to date. One view being bandied about suggests that the Manas case is not closed, and that the United States could retain its military presence in Kyrgyzstan -- if Washington were to enter into a grand bargain with Moscow.

Under such a scenario, US leaders would make concessions, such as abandoning its anti-missile defense plans for Central Europe, or NATO enlargement for Ukraine and Georgia, in return for Moscow’s consent to the continuing presence of US forces at Manas. This is highly unlikely as no US administration, Democratic or Republican, would surrender its options to Moscow in such a fashion. To do so would be to explicitly acknowledge Moscow’s hegemony over the CIS. Thus, talk about a possible bargain on Manas is probably nothing more than disinformation, or a Kremlin attempt at keeping pressure on the Obama administration. A second view, reported in the Turkish press, is that the United States may use bases in Turkey to substitute for Manas, particularly at Trabzon. Apart from the unlikelihood of the US seeing this option as appealing, it seems highly improbable that the Turkish government would assent to such a base, given the current state of Turkish-US relations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to Turkey was widely hailed as a turning point, in which bilateral ties turned away from the mutual tension that characterized much of the Bush administration years. But there’s still ways to go before relations are restored to pre-Iraq War II levels. Public hostility in Turkey toward the United States remains strong. A third alternative that is floating around is a potential US base in Tajikistan. This too seems to be beyond plausible. Despite Dushanbe’s unhappiness with Russia on several fronts, the Tajik government is economically on its knees.

Even though Moscow has reneged on many of its earlier promises of assistance to Dushanbe, the Tajik government simply can’t afford to alienate the Kremlin. It’s worth keeping in mind that not only Russia, but also China, Iran and possibly some neighboring Central Asian states would put the squeeze on Dushanbe, if it seemed that Tajik President Imomali Rahmon was seriously considering making a base available to the Americans. This leaves the fourth possibility, Uzbekistan. The country’s president, Islam Karimov, has long been a master at bouncing back and forth between the West and Moscow to gain security benefits from each side. Thus, he has been able to keep a base open at Termez for use by Germany and NATO personnel, while still being considered a strategic ally of Moscow’s. US personnel are allowed to use the Termez base only under strict conditions where they function exclusively as part of a NATO operation.

Reportedly, US soldiers can fly via Termez, but only on German aircraft. Therefore, it is unlikely that Termez can become a substitute for Manas. While Karimov clearly intends to keep his Western and American options open to the greatest possible degree, it is also clear that with regard to military bases, those options are inherently limited. Thus, it would seem at present that there is no viable alternative to Manas for the United States in Central Asia. As a result, refueling operations will likely have to shift to bases in the Gulf region. This will add costs to the war effort and mean additional wear-and-tear on air crews. But these added burdens are clearly not enough to drive the US out of the theater. As long as non-military cargoes can traverse Central Asian states and Russia too, it appears that the logistical chain through Central Asia is sustainable. Even so, it is necessary for the Obama administration to learn from this episode. Washington cannot accept a situation where Russia can bully, bribe and coerce the nations of Central Asia into going along with the Kremlin’s nefarious intentions. It must be a hallmark of US policy to enhance the freedom of local governments, providing them with the ability to make their own unfettered decisions on security matters.

To enable this, Washington must be prepared to invest heavily in Central Asian states. While at present there are no military alternatives to Manas in the region, an intelligent and far-sighted regional US policy must come to understand that if Central Asia is to be secure, it must be able to stand on its own two feet and not rely on Moscow’s crutches. Editor's Note: Stephen Blank is a professor at the US Army War College. The views expressed this article do not in any way represent the views of the US Army, Defense Department or the US Government.

Ex-Soviet States Plan Joint Air Defense Drills Aug. 7- Sept. 18

Ex-Soviet States Plan Joint Air Defense Drills Aug. 7- Sept. 18

(NSI News Source Info) ASTANA - March 4, 2009: Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will conduct joint air defense exercises from August 7 until September 18, the first deputy commander of Russia's Air Force said on Wednesday. "The biennial Combat Commonwealth exercises will be held from August 7 until September 18," Vadim Volkovidsky told a news conference following a meeting of the coordinating committee for air defense under the CIS council of defense ministers. He specified that the exercises would be held in several stages and on the territory of each member state. The CIS, a loose alliance of former Soviet states, comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine is a founding and participating country, but technically not a member state. Turkmenistan holds associate status. An integrated air defense network was set up by 10 CIS member countries on February 10, 1995. The main purpose of the network is to ensure the protection of the member-countries' airspace, early warning of missile attacks and coordination of joint efforts to neutralize potential air threats.

U.S.-Afghan Supply Line Out Of Business Again

U.S.-Afghan Supply Line Out Of Business Again

By HABIBULLAH KHAN and NICK SCHIFRIN

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - February 4, 2009: The main supply route to U.S. troops in Afghanistan was cut for the third time in six months today when militants blew up a small but crucial bridge in Pakistan's Khyber Agency.

The bridge, originally built when the British ruled the area, allowed some 300 trucks carrying NATO and U.S. equipment to cross a dry riverbed every day. While Pakistani officials said the supply line would reopen tomorrow, the attack underscores why U.S. officials have been pushing to find alternative means to bring supplies into landlocked Afghanistan. A truck lies down on a bridge destroyed by alleged Islamic militants Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber near Peshawar. Islamist militants blew up the bridge in northwest Pakistan, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan, a government official and a NATO spokesman said. The attack was the latest in a series on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. "We are putting up a temporary bridge in the next 48 hours," the top political official in the Khyber Agency, Tariq Hayat, told ABC News. He said an alternative, temporary road was being created so trucks could continue crossing the border. Today's attack is the latest high profile targeting of the supply route, which ferries more than three-quarters of the material used in Afghanistan. But it is the first time militants have attacked a bridge.

Since the fall, militants in Khyber Agency and on the edge of Peshawar, the largest city in Pakistan's northwest, have burned or destroyed hundreds of supply trucks. Most of those trucks have been carrying building materials such as cement to prepare for additional troops -- as many as 35,000 -- the United States is sending to Afghanistan this year. "This chain cannot be interrupted for any significant amount of time," Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, the spokesman for international forces in Afghanistan, told ABC News. But he, like all U.S. officials, argued that the attacks on the supply line have not affected the war effort. The supply line "is something that is just too big for them to make too big a dent into," he said. Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces from the border of Libya to the border of India, recently told reporters in Islamabad that the United States had made deals with countries on Afghanistan's northern border. He did not elaborate. Those countries include Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and any deal to allow supplies into and out of those countries would also involve Russia.

"We want to have more reliance on other routes," Blanchette said, not only for the war but also for Afghanistan's future. "This will make a difference for the country when we pack up and go." The Pakistani military recently conducted a major operation in the Khyber Agency trying to clear the area of militants. Last year, the city of Peshawar and its suburbs suffered from intense security problems, including a 90 percent increase in the number of kidnappings for ransom. Hayat said the operation had worked and that the bridge explosion was evidence of the militants' desperation.

"We flushed them out," he said. "Now they are resort[ing] to hit-and-run tactics." Asked who was responsible for the attack, he responded: "Who else but TTP?" using the acronym for the Pakistani Taliban. Peace in the Khyber Agency had historically been ensured by local tribes, who worked with political agents installed by the British. Though that system was severely eroded under President Pervez Musharraf, the political agent remains the top government official in the district. But in recent months, bands of criminals had been inviting Taliban militants into Khyber from the more volatile tribal areas of South and North Waziristan. Crime was peaking in Khyber and in Peshawar, and groups were looking to supplement their ability to operate. In Washington, the Defense Department today is expected to release the specific orders for which units will be deploying to Afghanistan. A Marine expeditionary brigade, a Stryker brigade, an Army brigade and a brigade of trainers are expected to be on the list. Already, the 10th Mountain division is arriving in Logar and Wardack provinces, on the edges of Kabul, to try and contain a security situation that deteriorated significantly in the past year. In total, the Untied States could announce plans to more than double its current presence of 32,000 troops there. "The Taliban has regrouped after its fall from power and has coalesced into a resilient and evolving insurgency," according to a U.S. government report about Afghanistan released Monday. "Building a fully competent and independent Afghan government will be a lengthy process that will last, at minimum, decades."