This is odd. At first there were claims that Mig-29's were going to be stationed in Tajikstan, then there were claims that no Migs but just Mi-17 helicopters. Now the Tajiks are rejecting any airbase at all in Tajikstan!
Tajikistan Rejects Indian Bid To Use Base
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI
Dushanbe has rejected New Delhi’s proposal to build a military base at a Tajik military airport being refurbished with Indian aid, confounding Indian defense officials who believed the Tajik government would permit the move.
In 2002, India and Russia agreed to rebuild the airport, located in Ayni in the Hissar district, and used by Russian forces in the 1980s. About 150 Indian engineers and workers are employed in the rebuilding, said a Tajik diplomat based here.
New Delhi had hoped the base would become a foothold in central Asia, and an asset in case of war with Pakistan, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.
India had also supplied aid to anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanis-tan through Tajikistan.
Rumors of a future Indian presence had been reported since 2003, and the Tajik government never denied the stories. That changed July 18, when Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi said in a news conference that Tajikistan and India had not been negotiating the opening of an Indian military base.
“India has helped us rehabilitate the Ayni airfield, but this does not provide for opening of the military base here,” Zarifi said.
E-mail: [email protected].
Tajikistan: India Not Using Airbase
A report that the Indian military intends to deploy MI-17 helicopters, Kiran training aircraft and MiG-29 fighters to the Aini airport outside Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is false, Russia's Regnum news agency reported July 18, citing unnamed Tajik Defense Ministry sources. The sources did not confirm reports that India has already asked the Tajik Security Council for permission to airlift military equipment to Aini. The move would have made Aini India's first military base abroad.
Tajikistan denies holding air base talks with India
Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Khamrokhon Zarifi said Wednesday that his country has not signed any pact or held any negotiations with India on the deployment of the Indian air force base in Tajikistan.
The Times of India reported earlier that the Indian Defense Ministry planned to deploy Mi-17 helicopters and training aircraft at the Aini airfield in Tajikistan and turn the site into an Indian air force base.
Tajikistan Rejects Indian Bid To Use Base
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI
Dushanbe has rejected New Delhi’s proposal to build a military base at a Tajik military airport being refurbished with Indian aid, confounding Indian defense officials who believed the Tajik government would permit the move.
In 2002, India and Russia agreed to rebuild the airport, located in Ayni in the Hissar district, and used by Russian forces in the 1980s. About 150 Indian engineers and workers are employed in the rebuilding, said a Tajik diplomat based here.
New Delhi had hoped the base would become a foothold in central Asia, and an asset in case of war with Pakistan, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.
India had also supplied aid to anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanis-tan through Tajikistan.
Rumors of a future Indian presence had been reported since 2003, and the Tajik government never denied the stories. That changed July 18, when Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi said in a news conference that Tajikistan and India had not been negotiating the opening of an Indian military base.
“India has helped us rehabilitate the Ayni airfield, but this does not provide for opening of the military base here,” Zarifi said.
E-mail: [email protected].
Tajikistan: India Not Using Airbase
A report that the Indian military intends to deploy MI-17 helicopters, Kiran training aircraft and MiG-29 fighters to the Aini airport outside Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is false, Russia's Regnum news agency reported July 18, citing unnamed Tajik Defense Ministry sources. The sources did not confirm reports that India has already asked the Tajik Security Council for permission to airlift military equipment to Aini. The move would have made Aini India's first military base abroad.
Tajikistan denies holding air base talks with India
Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Khamrokhon Zarifi said Wednesday that his country has not signed any pact or held any negotiations with India on the deployment of the Indian air force base in Tajikistan.
The Times of India reported earlier that the Indian Defense Ministry planned to deploy Mi-17 helicopters and training aircraft at the Aini airfield in Tajikistan and turn the site into an Indian air force base.