Aug 20, 2010 - BBC Monitoring

Russia has been invited to take part in a project to transmit electric power from Tajikistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

He said that at the meeting between the presidents of Russia [Dmitriy Medvedev], Tajikistan [Emomali Rahmon], Pakistan [Asif Ali Zardari] and Afghanistan [Hamed Karzai], particularly attention was paid to this project, which so far only exists on paper.

"Russia was invited to consider the possibility of taking part in this project. We are interested in it," Lavrov said.

"The relevant ministries and companies of the four countries will discuss the terms on which Russia might be a participant in this project," he said. Such terms must be mutually beneficial, he said.

Lavrov said that it was "difficult to overestimate" the significance of this project to stabilize the general situation in the region and to create the conditions to boost the economy of Afghanistan and neighbouring countries.

Overall, the economy was one of the main issues at the [Sochi] summit [between the four leaders], he said. The presidents said it was necessary to draw up and implement joint regional projects not only in the energy field, but also in transport and other infrastructure, and in developing natural resources, Lavrov said. [Passage omitted]

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1307 gmt 18 Aug 10

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