 "A team of Sukhoi SU 30 MKI rehearse for India's Air Force Day in New Delhi October 6, 2005. File Photo/Reuters")
India has rounded off its operation at a strategic airbase in Tajikistan after helping it run since 2002. The Indian military’s withdrawal from the Ayni airbase reportedly came after a bilateral agreement between the two countries lapsed in 2022.
The facility in Tajikistan was a military asset for India, giving it a strategic foothold in Central Asia. Given its location, the Ayni airbase also offered India leverage over Pakistan to counter the neighbouring rival’s influence in Afghanistan.
Let’s take a closer look.
India vacates Ayni air base
India withdrew from the Ayni air base in Tajikistan after the agreement between the Indian and Tajik governments for the development and joint operation of the airbase ended four years ago, people familiar with the matter told PTI.
As per ThePrint sources, India, which was operating the Ayni airbase alongside Tajikistan , had taken it on a lease. After the lease period expired, Tajikistan informed India that the lease on the air base would not be extended.
India pulled out its personnel and military equipment from the airbase in 2022. The facility had a detachment of Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters, a repair facility and maintenance equipment.
The airbase in Tajikistan served as a key logistics hub for India. However, after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the utility of the base diminished and the agreement for India to operate it was not extended, sources told Economic Times.
Tajikistan’s reason for not extending the lease was reportedly the pressure from Russia and China over non-regional military personnel at the base.
Russian forces have reportedly taken over the base since India’s withdrawal, which concluded by early 2023. However, India continues to have a presence in the region, ET sources said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHow India came to run Ayni air base
India operated the Ayni airbase for roughly 25 years under a 2002 agreement with Tajikistan.
Located just west of the Tajik capital Dushanbe, the airbase dates back to the Soviet era. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ayni airbase became a crumbling mess.
Around 2001-2002, “radical thinkers” in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the security establishment proposed to develop and upgrade the Gissar Military Aerodrome (GMA), popularly known as the Ayni airbase, noted ThePrint.
The project, funded by the MEA, was strongly backed by then Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had played a crucial role in setting up the airbase.
The Indian government roped in a private contractor along with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for building the airbase.
India reportedly spent close to $100 million on developing and upgrading the airbase in Tajikistan.
India extended the airstrip at Gissar to 3,200 metres and upgraded support facilities for aircraft. It also developed hangars, overhauling and the refuelling capacity of aircraft.
There are reports that the Indian military temporarily deployed Su-30MKI fighter jets and choppers at the Ayni airbase around a decade back.
At times, India also stationed up to 200 Indian military personnel, mostly from the army and air force, at the airbase in Tajikistan, as per Hindustan Times.
In 2021, India used Ayni airbase to evacuate its nationals and officials from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
Why Tajikistan airbase mattered for India
India’s initial motive for establishing a presence at Ayni airbase was to support the former Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. Led by Ahmad Shah Masood, it was the main military alliance fighting the Taliban.
India ran a hospital in the city of Farkhor in southern Tajikistan in the 1990s, where Masood was treated in 2001 after a fatal suicide attack.
The Ayni airbase in Tajikistan brought India within striking distance of Pakistan.
Tajikistan borders Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Ayni airbase was located only some 20 km from Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land that shares a boundary with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The Indian military could target Peshawar from Tajikistan, putting more pressure on Pakistan’s resources. During war, this would have forced Pakistan to shift assets from its eastern borders to the west, weakening its direct front with India, as per ThePrint.
The Ayni airbase also helped India boost its influence in Central Asia .
As per Newsweek, Andrea Stauder, senior analyst at BISI, wrote in a July analysis on Tajikistan’s regional importance, “While Russia and China remain dominant, India has an opportunity to expand its role beyond security into economic engagement.”
India’s withdrawal from Tajikistan’s Ayni base will bolster Russian and Chinese influence in the region and limit New Delhi’s military reach in Central Asia.
With inputs from agencies