India's First : Foreign Indian Airbase

[Chanakyaa]

India's first ever air base in Central Asia at Ayni in Tajikistan is now ready and the Defence Ministry has sought a mandate from the Cabinet Committee on Security to begin operations.

India refurbished the Ayni air base, 10 km north-east of Dushanbe, at the cost of over Rs 80 crore under a trilateral defence agreement with Tajikistan and Russia. With its runway extended, perimeter fencing secured and aircraft hangars built, the Ayni airbase is ready after a delay of nearly two years. Lying dilapidated since 1985, this airbase was used by the former Soviet Union during its Afghan campaign.

Official sources have told The Sunday Express that the Chiefs of Staff Committee has already put its stamp of approval on operating the base. However, Defence Minister A K Antony has asked the CCS for a formal mandate on force levels before the Indian Air Force moves its platforms to Ayni.

Under the trilateral agreement, India, Russia and Tajikistan will have command and control of the air base by rotation and a contingent of Defence Services personnel is already in Ayni after military contractors completed construction last December.

Ayni’s use is limited by the fact that India has no direct access to Tajikistan with part of Kashmir and Northern Areas being controlled by Pakistan. Under the circumstances, the Indian team will have to work with the Russians, who already have a motorised division stationed in Tajikistan, for all logistical help and support.

India has plans to put a squadron of Mi-17 V1 helicopters at Ayni with logistical support coming from Russia in the landlocked Tajikistan. While Russia is operating fighters from this base, New Delhi does not want to commit fixed-wing platforms for Ayni. The Indian Air Force has already given flying training to Tajikistan air force personnel under the agreement.

Conceived in 2002 under the NDA regime, the Ayni air base allows India rapid response to any emerging threat from the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan arc including a terrorist hijacking like the IC-814. It also gives New Delhi a limited yet significant capability to inject special forces into a hostile theatre as and when the situation demands.

The other aspect is India’s role in the energy security calculus in the region with prospects of Central Asian natural gas reaching the subcontinent and negotiations with energy-rich countries like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Energy security is now a major concern with the Strategic Policy Group under Cabinet Secretary discussing the issue with the service chiefs, Home, Defence and Foreign Secretaries on February 7.

NEW DELHI: Quietly, very quietly, India is preparing to deploy at least one squadron of Mi-17 helicopters at the Ayni airbase in Tajikistan. This will be its 'first real military outpost' on foreign shores and give New Delhi 'strategic reach' in energy-rich Central Asia.

The 'immediate' plan may well be to deploy Mi-17 helicopters, as well as some Kiran trainer aircraft to train Tajik pilots, at the airbase before the end of this year. But sources confirmed that this was just the prelude to 'a larger strategic imprint' in the region, which India sees as crucial to its growing energy needs. The 'eventual aim' is to station even MiG-29 fighter jets at the airbase.

"It may be just a military outpost at the moment but will develop into a full-fledged base in the future," said a source. This will also give India the option to even rapidly 'insert' its special forces into nearby areas if its interests are threatened, as they were during the hijack of IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999.

Officially, the defence ministry and IAF strongly deny the move to establish an Indian military base at Ayni. But there is also a quiet sense of satisfaction at the unfolding of the Ayni plan, first conceived in 2002, which will see India break out of its self-imposed strategic constraint that rarely extended beyond its immediate neighbourhood.

Sources say the defence ministry has sought the Cabinet Committee on Security's formal approval to begin operations at the Ayni airbase, renovated and upgraded with India's help at a cost of almost Rs 100 crore.

With the help of engineers from Army and Border Roads Organisation, India has extended and relaid the runway at the airbase, around 15 km from Tajik capital Dushanbe. It has also constructed three aircraft hangars and an air-control tower besides implementing perimeter fencing around the base.

This was done under a three-way agreement among India, Tajikistan and Russia. It has gained momentum since the Ayni airbase — lying largely unused since the mid-1980s — has now become 'fully-ready' for operations after four years of hard work.

India, on its part, wants "military presence" in the area to keep tabs on "any anti-Indian activity" in the terrorism-infested Pakistan-Afghanistan region.

 

[Pride]

Thanks Xinix for your post.. but I heard that India is in line for another foreign airbase in Mongloia.. Link:-
India shelves proposal to set up airbase in Mongolia?

 

[manish123]

Great news for us.

 

[Choppers]

This is a 3 year old news.

 

[navtrek]

 

[Chanakyaa]

Yes but hardly any one knows it.

 

[MZUBAIR]

Yes but hardly any one knows it.

Many of us knows it my dear.............

 

[navtrek]

Many of us knows it my dear.............

Ha ha he was referring to the image i posted i guess and i guess u got it wrong buddy.

 

[Iggy]

But is there a issue with Russians about this base??that they want us to vacate the base?that problem is sorted out??

 

[navtrek]

But is there a issue with Russians about this base??that they want us to vacate the base?that problem is sorted out??

hope this is the answer u r searching for.

The other area of friction between New Delhi and Moscow is India's efforts to establish influence and even a military presence in Central Asia. Russia regards "the Stans" -- Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and so forth, which were part of the old Soviet Union empire -- as still its legitimate sphere of influence.

India has not only invested heavily in courting Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, as a way of containing Pakistan's influence in Kabul, New Delhi has also established a military base at Ayni airport on the outskirts of the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe.

The idea of this expeditionary base is not only to give muscle to New Delhi's influence in Kabul with a military presence on the northern supply routes into Afghanistan, but also to give India access, if necessary, to western China and China's supply routes to its ally, Pakistan.

Moscow, though, is none too happy about New Delhi playing its strategic "Great Game" in Russia's backyard. Russia has persuaded the Dushanbe government of Emomali Rahmon that operational control of the Ayni airbase should rotate, and that it should share that responsibility with India.

India and Russia revive Cold War ties

 

[Chanakyaa]

Its soothing to see that indian stratagists are looking the future

 

[Pride]

Its soothing to see that indian stratagists are looking the future

Xinix, any update on Mongolia airbase?

 

[Chanakyaa]

Xinix, any update on Mongolia airbase?

The News Report that the Program has been called off.

But, We Have signed a Nuclear Deal with Them.
The Chinese Pressure is there but Who Knows.. whats behind the doors.

 

[RobbieS]

If memory serves me right, India used this base to airlift injured Northern Alliance troops for treatment during their battles with the Taliban.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Robbie, Infact Even Their Top Leader was Hospitalized There...

The assassins may have intended to attack several Northern Alliance council members simultaneously.[citation needed] Bouraoui was killed by the explosion and Dahmane was captured and shot while trying to escape. Massoud was rushed after the attack to the Indian Military hospital at Farkhor, Tajikistan, which is now Farkhor Air Base.