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.

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.