Farkhor Air Base is a military air base located near the town of

Farkhor Farkhor ( tg, Фархор), also called Parkhar (russian: Пархар), is a city in southwestern Tajikistan, located on the border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of Farkhor District in Khatlon Region. The population of the town is 25,300 ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, southeast of the capital

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...

. It is operated by the Indian Air Force in collaboration with the Tajik Air Force. Farkhor is

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's first military base outside its territory.

History

In 1996–97, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) started negotiations with Tajikistan to use the Farkhor Air Base to transport high-altitude military supplies to the Afghan Northern Alliance, service their helicopters and gather intelligence. At that time, India operated a small military hospital in the Farkhor region. The hospital at Farkhor was used to treat Afghan Northern Alliance members injured in fighting with the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

, including military leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, who was rushed there after a suicide attack against him. In 2002, India acknowledged that it was setting up an air base in Farkhor. It was secured with assistance from Russia. The airbase was in a dilapidated condition and was not used since the 1980s. The Indian Government awarded a $10 million tender to a private builder in 2003 to restore the airbase by 2005. After the builder defaulted, the

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring ...

stepped in to complete the work. In 2006, India was considering deploying a squadron of MiG 29 aircraft at the base. Subsequently the base was operationalized by 2007.

Strategic location and geopolitical implications

The Farkhor Air Base would give the Indian military the required depth and range in seeking a larger role in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and is a tangible manifestation of India's move to project its power in Central Asia.

References

{{Reflist Tajik Air Force Aviation in Tajikistan Airports in Tajikistan Indian Overseas Military bases Indian Air Force bases Khatlon Region Research and Analysis Wing Military installations in Tajikistan Soviet Air Force bases

History

Strategic location and geopolitical implications

See also

References