The 31 Flavors Nation
As a small, landlocked country surrounded by difficult neighbors, Tajikistan makes a business of being everyone’s best friend. Russia has long been the dominant power in the country, and Tajikistan has been building ties with Iran and international organizations as well recently.
Now Tajikistan will become home to India’s first operational foreign military base by the year’s end (we mentioned this last December as well). What’s in it for Tajikistan? English lessons, MIG-retrofitting lessons (India was in the Soviet camp during the cold war), and hopefully the notion that democracy and vibrant civil society aren’t the sole domain of the West. India’s increased military presence may have the added benefit of acting as a stabilizer for the tumultuous countries to the south.
What’s in it for India? Predictably, oil.
The Indian Defence Ministry declined to comment on the Tajik base. However, defence planners said the base would provide New Delhi with a ‘longer strategic reach’ in Central Asia and help it secure badly needed oil contracts.
on April 27th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Thanks James.
Actually, I always found these reports about Indian’s military presence in Tajikistan rather intriguing.
Reports seem differ widely on the actual place where these blokes are supposed to be based. The first one I read was one from 2002 (and repeated since), that had it, that the Indians were to expand a 2001-established supply point and field hospital with 25 Indian doctors at Farkhor, on the Tajik-Afghan border; that base was allegedly set up to channel Indian support to what was then still the Northern Alliance.
More recent reports mention ‘Anyi, 15 km from Dushanbe’. This place exits. I think its in the former Leninskii rayon south-west of the city and there’s indeed an Soviet-era airstrip there. Has anyone ever *seen* Indian military in Dushanbe, like you sometimes see Western ISAF troops?
“What’s in it for India? Predictably, oil.”
Yes: oil, gas + and encircling Pakistan. It’s only a relative stone’s throw away from Chitral and the Northern Areas.
on April 27th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
OIL in Tajikistan? They landed some 2000 km short. Why not establish a base in Kazakhstan?
on April 28th, 2006 at 2:53 am
TB,
Naturally they aren’t trying to get oil from Tajistan, but having a presence there will undoubtably increase their influence in the region as a whole.
Also, Tajikistan has a variety of advantages over Kazakhstan; for starters, Kazakhstan is a lot further away, and isn’t hosting foriegn military bases the way its neighbors are. I think Rakin hit the nail on the head when he mentioned Pakistan, too.