By Micha’el Tanchum
After years of floundering, India’s Connect Central Asia policy is finally making progress.
On March 25, 2014, members of the Indian and Kyrgyz armed forces completed a two-week joint military exercise in Kyrgyzstan. Involving special forces from each country, including Kyrgstan’s “Scorpions” units, the Kanzhar 2015 exercise focused on the neutralization of armed militant organizations in mountainous areas. While the joint exercise was relatively small, consisting of approximately 100 soldiers, the presence of Indian combat forces on the ground in Central Asia marks an important comeback for India’s hitherto floundering Connect Central Asia policy. Indeed, New Delhi’s poor maneuvering during the latter part of the Manmohan Singh government had left India isolated in Central Asia, a region critical for India’s energy, trade and security needs.
Officially announced by New Delhi in June 2012, India’s Connect Central Asia policy was the formalization of New Delhi’s revamped efforts to offset the grave strategic setback India first suffered in December 2010 with its loss of Tajikistan’s Ayni airbase to Russia. The Ayni airbase had been the key to New Delhi’s plan for expanding India’s strategic footprint in Central Asia. Originally used by the Soviets during the 1980s, the airbase had been abandoned since the 1988-89 withdrawal Soviet troops from Afghanistan. New Delhi contributed technical assistance and $70 million to renovate the airbase between 2003 and 2010. India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO), directed by the Army Corps of Engineers, extended the main runway to 3,200 meters to accommodate all types of aircraft, built a control tower with state-of-the-art navigational technology, and constructed three hangars capable of housing squadrons of MiG-29 bombers used by the Indian Air Force. Nonetheless, there are no reports of Indian combat aircraft having ever been stationed at the base. Although the BRO began the Ayni renovations in 2004, New Delhi never developed any meaningful leverage with the Tajik government. In December 2010, Tajikistan announced that Russia would be the only country to use the Ayni airbase. Moscow and Dushanbe then began negotiating the terms of their future military cooperation and Russia’s support for Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s November 2013 re-election bid. India was effectively closed out of Ayni and the embarrassing reversal ushered in a period during which India had virtually no significant defense cooperation in Central Asia.
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