Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov in a meeting in Ashgabat discussed Afghanistan, regional joint projects, connectivity and stability among other matters in the interest of both countries, according to reports by Indian media outlets.

The two sides also discussed cooperation on energy as the Indian president visited Turkmenistan in an official trip on Saturday. 

Kovind said that security along Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) gas pipeline is necessary for the project to be implemented.

“Cooperation in energy was one of the key areas of our discussions today. On the TAPI pipeline, I suggested that issues related to security of the pipeline and key … principles maybe addressed in expert and technical level meetings,” he said.

Kovind also stressed on the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan that fight drug and respect women rights in the country. 

“As immediate neighbors of Afghanistan, our countries are naturally concerned about the development within that country and their external repercussions. We share a broad reasonable consensus on the issues related to Afghanistan which includes formation of a truly representative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, central role of the UN, providing immediate humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, and preserving the rights of women, children and other national ethnic groups and minorities,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate says that security is maintained for TAPI project and that the project’s implementation will start soon. 

Burhan Afghan, spokesman of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said that there are some issues, such as land acquisition, tax and other technical issues and a team from four relevant ministries is working on them.

“They hold weekly meetings for resolving the remaining challenges ahead of the project,” he said.

“Stability in Afghanistan and in the region is one of the key issues required for the implementation of TAPI,” Shabir Bashiri, an economic analyst said.

The ministry of mines recently said that the TAPI project will start in March 202