Khaleej Times: Central-Asia-South Asia Energy, Trade Corridor Gets Started

The launch pad of the new zone consists of three main wings: Turkmenistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan-India, or Tapi, gas pipeline, Central Asia-South Asia-1000 (CASA-1000) electricity grid, and boosting regional trade by opening all the countries to business, and a drastic tariff-lowering, cost-effective transportation. It will also help the area by expanding use of oil and gas pipelines for energy within the region and to and from the region connecting UAE-Middle East-Saudi Arabia through the shortest route via the Pakistani port of Gwadar, and free business travel.

The Central Asian Republics, or CARs, located west and north of Pakistan and China have huge, untapped energy potential to feed the energy starved Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, South Asia, from the oil rich Central Asia stretching from Tajikistan to Karghezistan, Uzbekistan and the rest of CARs, the former Soviet states.

The CARs have also agreed to join the much bigger and ambitious $46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, which will stretch from Shanghai to west and down South to Gwadar, in South Eastern Pakistan. CPEC and CARs- CASA have the potential of turning themselves into, perhaps, the world's largest or No. 2 business, energy and industrial zone. It will be directly linked to UAE-Saudi Arabia and rest to the Middle East. Pakistan's Gwadar link will also provide the shortest and the most cost-effective energy transportation and trade roué between UAE-Middle East to CPEC-CARs-CASA for oil, electricity and natural gas to flow - both ways. MORE