WORK has started on the Afghanistan section of a US-backed pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkmenistan through the country and also Pakistan and India.
The 1,140-mile TAPI pipeline is to carry 33 billion cubic metres of gas a year and will be an important new export outlet for Turkmenistan, whose economy centres on its vast natural gas reserves.
Workers at the Turkmen-Afghan border welded the first link crossing the frontier in a ceremony today, observed by video by the presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan’s prime minister and India’s foreign minister.
Modi has rolled out the carpet for the Taliban in New Delhi — and we shouldn’t be surprised. They have more in common than you might think, argues Bhabani Shankar Nayak
The US’s bid for regime change in the Islamic Republic has become more urgent as it seeks to encircle and contain a resurgent China, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ



