DUSHANBE
, April 24, Asia-Plus – Defenceindia.com —
India
”s first overseas military facility in
Tajikistan
is expected to become operational by the year-end as part of
New Delhi
”s thrust into oil-rich
Central Asia
to meet its growing energy needs, Defensindia.com reported on April 20.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is to deploy a fleet of MiG-29 fighter-bombers at the airbase at Ayni, 15 km from the
Tajikistan
capital
Dushanbe
.
According to Defenceindia.com, India”s quasi-military Border Roads Organization (BRO) is currently constructing three hangars at Ayni, two of which will accommodate the 12 aircraft the IAF will deploy for varying periods, official sources said.
The Tajikistan Air Force, whose personnel the IAF is training under an April 2002 defense cooperation agreement, will utilize the third hangar. For this purpose the IAF also plans to station trainer aircraft at Ayni.
The IAF is also helping its Tajik counterpart to retrofit its Soviet-era fighters while Indian civilian and military personnel are teaching the Tajik servicemen English.
Defenceindia.com says the Indian defense ministry declined to comment on the Tajik base. However, defense planners said the base would provide
New Delhi
with a “longer strategic reach” in
Central Asia
and help it secure badly needed oil contracts.
Military sources said the BRO, supervised by a contingent of Indian Army and IAF personnel, is expected to complete work at Ayni by the Tajik National Day Sep 9.
The BRO took charge of the project earlier this year. This was after a New Delhi-based private builder who was allotted a $10 million contract in early 2003 to restore the airbase defaulted on completing the undertaking by end-2005. The base has been lying unused since mid-1980.
Senior military sources, preferring to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the project, said that a contingent of around 40 Indian Army and IAF personnel, including around six officers and commanded by an army colonel, were overseeing the air base”s refurbishment. This includes restoring its runway, the aircraft taxiing track and parking apron, besides building accommodation for a “sizeable” Indian military contingent.
