Pajhwok05/22/2012By [Printer Friendly Version] KABUL - The much-awaited agreement on transporting natural gas from resource-rich Turkmenistan via Afghanistan into Pakistan and to India was signed on Tuesday. The trans-Afghanistan pipeline, stretching 1,735-km, also known as TAPI project, will run from Daulatabad via Herat and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan, before entering Pakistan and end in the Punjab province of India. Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani left for Turkmenistan on Tuesday and signed the accord with energy ministers from the four other participating countries, which would provide transit facilities. A statement from the ministry said in terms of the accord, Turkmenistan was the seller, Afghanistan and Pakistan were transit countries, while India as the buyer. For the next 30 years after 2016, the pipeline will transport 34 billion cubic meters of gas annually.