Pakistan on Saturday joined Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and India in signing the long-awaited over $7.6 billion dollars gas pipeline project to help it meet its sharply rising industrial and domestic demands. The inter-governmental agreement (IGA) was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora here at a local hotel, almost 15 years after the project was envisioned. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend the summit as he was away to attend the India-EU summit at Brussels. The Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) was signed by the petroleum ministers of their respective countries with Syed Naveed Qamar representing Pakistan. The 1,680 km long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline backed by the Asian Development Bank will bring 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcfd) from Turkmenistans gas fields to Multan in Central Pakistan and end in the northwestern Indian town of Fazilka.