Energy diplomacy in South Asia: Beyond the security paradigm in accessing the TAPI pipeline project

On the 13th of December 2015, the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India officially inaugurated the TAPI pipeline, which is set to be the largest cross-country energy infrastructure project undertaken in South Asia with an expected completion date of 2019. The limited literature on TAPI has almost exclusively focused on security impediments to the pipeline from the perspective of the member countries of the project. This paper argues that the solution to these impediments is greatly constrained by a reductionist rather than a multistakeholder approach. Using a broader understanding of the concept of energy diplomacy, this paper argues that energy infrastructure such as the TAPI can be used to encourage interdependency by expanding the number of stakeholders beyond the member countries of the project. While including the interests of external countries and institutions may build consensus on political issues, identifying ways by which the interests of communities can be addressed may reduce the explicit emphasis on the physical security of the pipeline by including human security concerns within the project's blueprint. The cumulative impact of such an approach may create a shift in the perception of energy projects from the purview of security, to one of inclusive co-operation.