The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov says Ashgabat has invested more than $1.5 billion in joint projects with Afghanistan.

At a meeting to provide information about the joint infrastructure projects of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, Meredov said that Turkmenistan intends to expand political, economic, commercial, transportation and transit relations with Afghanistan.

Meredov has also invited India, Pakistan, international banks and the Asian Development Bank to invest in the TAPI project.

“The government of Turkmenistan has invested more than 1.5 billion dollars in various projects with Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is determined to develop and expand political, economic, commercial, transportation and transit relations with Afghanistan as much as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, acting head of the Afghan embassy in Turkmenistan Fazl Mohammad Saber also said that the Islamic Emirate is determined to implement joint projects between the two countries.

“The opening of TAPI, TAP, fiber optics and railway lines, etc., is actually a sign of true friendship and brotherhood between the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, who have been living side by side in a good neighborly atmosphere for a long time,” said Saber.

“The people of Afghanistan welcome the successful implementation of these projects, and the Islamic Emirate is determined to implement them,” he added.

IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that currently, the economic relations between Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are expanding.

In this meeting, the ambassadors of China, India, the head of the Asian Development Bank branch and the head of the UN representative also spoke and welcomed and praised the implementation of the mentioned projects.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday night he does not understand why the House Foreign Affairs Committee has taken the step to move to hold Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena to attend a hearing on the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Last week House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul called for a full committee markup to find the Secretary of State in contempt of Congress.

In an announcement, McCaul said this was for “his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the committee on Tuesday, September 3rd.”

Blinken was requested on May 23, this year, to appear before Congress on September 19, 2024 regarding the committee’s recent report on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

However, he will not appear due to his current travel arrangements. The markup is now scheduled for Thursday, September 19.

Following a markup in the committee, the full House would need to vote to refer it to the Department of Justice for prosecution — a move unlikely to be carried out under the Biden administration, but that could be treated differently in a potential second Trump administration, The Hill reported.

Miller meanwhile said on Tuesday that Blinken has testified 14 times before Congress on Afghanistan.

“Four of those times have been before this committee, including one appearance that was exclusively focused on Afghanistan – that was the sole subject of the hearing.

“We cooperated with their investigation into the – Afghanistan, provided them with documents, provided them with witness interviews. And we have tried to accommodate their request for a hearing.

“They asked for a hearing this Thursday. Obviously the Secretary is traveling, trying to advance a ceasefire. He’s not able to be there because he’s doing important – the important business of the United States.

“But we’ve said we would make the deputy secretary available, and we have offered the Secretary to appear at a later date,” he said.

The report is highly critical of US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US military forces from Afghanistan and accuses the administration of failing to plan for all contingencies.

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Roza Otunbayeva, is expected to brief the UN Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday after UNAMA released its quarterly report Tuesday.

Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, will preside over the meeting.

UNAMA’s latest report, which includes information gathered after the last report dated June 13, states that security incidents have increased against the same period last year; restrictions on women have increased, and almost more than 24 million people still need humanitarian aid.

The Islamic Emirate, meanwhile, expects that the reality of Afghanistan should be reflected in Otunbayeva’s report.

IEA has already asked UNAMA many times to reflect on the realities of Afghanistan in its reports and to refrain from exaggerating small issues.

Otunbayeva stated in her last report that by August 30 of this year, only 24.9 percent of the $2.9 billion dollars required for aid to Afghanistan had been provided.