A ground-breaking ceremony was held in Herat on Friday to launch the start of work on the Afghanistan section of the key Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project that will feed natural gas to the three countries from Turkmenistan.

Attending Friday’s ceremony was President Ashraf Ghani, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mobashar Jawed Akbar India’s Minister of State External Affairs, NATO and US Forces Commander Gen. John Nicholson and other high-ranking officials.

Addressing the event, Ghani said Afghanistan will leave no stone unturned to implement the project.

Today, Herat gives the message of confidence, hope and rehabilitation to Afghanistan and the region. Afghanistan will not spare any efforts to implement the project, he said.

The start of this project is the beginning of change in distrust to trust. It is the start of trust in Afghanistan. The project will improve regional cooperation and will move us from poverty to prosperity, he added.

At the same event, Pakistan Prime Minister said his country is committed to long-term economic goals which guarantee stability in the region.

Abbasi wished Afghanistan success for its economic projects and said, your development is our development, security in Afghanistan is security in Pakistan.

Turkmenistan President meanwhile stressed the need for increasing his country’s cooperation with Afghanistan.

He said the implementation of the TAPI project is the biggest achievement for the countries involved, adding that the project has a good impact on Afghanistan’s security and economy.

He vowed to provide more opportunities of development projects in Afghanistan.

India’s Minister of State External Affairs at this event said his country is committed to supporting the project.