Web Desk — November 3, 2025
Dushanbe: Tajikistan has fully reclaimed control of the Ayni Air Base, evicting India after nearly 25 years of joint operations, in a move reportedly driven by pressure from Russia and China.
The strategic facility, located 15 km west of the capital Dushanbe, was upgraded by India at a cost of $70-100 million starting in 2002. It served as New Delhi’s only overseas military outpost, hosting Mi-17 helicopters operated by Indian Air Force personnel for humanitarian missions and providing surveillance over Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The lease expired in 2022 without renewal, with withdrawal completed by October 2025. Tajikistan informed India in 2021 of non-extension, citing sensitivities over non-regional forces. Russian troops, numbering over 7,000 in Tajikistan, have now assumed operational control.
Analysts attribute the decision to Moscow and Beijing’s influence: Russia views Central Asia as its sphere, while China, via Belt and Road investments, seeks to limit rivals near Xinjiang. This signals growing Russian-Chinese-Pakistani sway in the region, diminishing India’s counter to Islamabad’s Afghan influence.
In New Delhi, opposition parties slammed it as a foreign policy failure, while experts call it a “strategic wake-up call” for India’s power projection limits. India retains ties with Tajikistan, including at Farkhor base, but loses a key vantage point used in 2001 Afghan evacuations
