Ayni Air Base was the Indian Air Force’s first overseas base located in Tajikistan. The base was strategic as it gave India an edge against Pakistan and China due to its location and proximity. India had quietly modernised the airbase in the mountains of Tajikistan, reshaping the strategic landscape of South Asia, emerging as a potential geopolitical lever—particularly in relation to Pakistan.
Located about 15 kilometres west of Dushanbe, the Ayni Airbase—once a decaying Soviet-era facility—has transformed into a key strategic asset for India. After lying dormant through Tajikistan’s civil war in the 1990s, the base was revived through a $70 million Indian investment launched in 2002, during the height of the U.S.-led war on terror in Afghanistan.
By 2010, India had completed major upgrades, including a 3,200-metre runway, fortified aircraft shelters, fuel storage facilities, and modern air traffic control systems, making Ayni capable of handling heavy-lift transporters like the Ilyushin-76 and multirole fighter jets such as the Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
However, if reports are to be believed, India has now lost a major strategic foothold in Central Asia after being asked to vacate the Ayni Air Base in Tajikistan, marking the end of a two-decade-long presence that provided New Delhi critical operational depth near Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Around 150 Indian personnel, including members of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) who helped build and maintain the facility, were stationed there. According to reports, Tajikistan requested India to withdraw its assets and personnel from the base a few months ago. Analysts attribute this move to mounting geopolitical pressure from China and Russia—both of whom share deep strategic ties with Tajikistan.
Beijing, which shares a 470-kilometre border with the Central Asian nation, was reportedly uncomfortable with India’s proximity in the region. Moscow, meanwhile, has long maintained that it opposes any non-regional military presence in territories once part of its traditional sphere of influence.
The closure of Ayni effectively reduces India’s strategic reach in Central Asia, at a time when regional power dynamics are being reshaped by China’s growing influence and Russia’s renewed assertiveness.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
