Turkmenistan signed landmark agreements on Wednesday to supply natural gas to Pakistan and India, moving a step closer to building a US-backed pipeline running across Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan’s state gas company Turkmengaz signed gas sales and purchase agreements with Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems and Indian state-run utility Gail.

“The implementation of this project will give a powerful impetus to the social and economic development of all the participant countries,” Turkmen’s Deputy Prime Minister Baimurad Hojamukhamedov said before the signing ceremony held in the resort area of Avaza on the Caspian Sea.