India airlifts military hospital to Tajikistan !!!

bhramos

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India airlifts military hospital to Tajikistan to strengthen geo-strategic footprint in Central Asia

NEW DELHI: India has quietly airlifted a military hospital, with doctors, paramedics and equipment, to Tajikistan as part of the deepening "strategic partnership" with the energy-rich central Asian country that shares borders with Afghanistan, China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

India already has over 100 Indian military personnel stationed at the Ayni airbase in Tajikistan, a country that also shares close proximity to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), as a kind of a "military outpost". The new hospital will serve to further strengthen India's geo-strategic footprint in the crucial Central Asian region.

Defence ministry sources say two of the newly-acquired C-130J "Super Hercules" aircraft of the IAF airlifted medical stores, equipment and 55 personnel over the last month to establish the "India-Tajik Friendship Hospital" in southern Tajikistan.

"The 50-bed hospital will treat both military as well as civilian people," said a source. The setting up of the hospital comes at a time when vice-president Hamid Ansari is on a visit to the landlocked country to further cement the bilateral strategic partnership and well as expand its "Connect Central Asia Policy" to build stronger linkages with the five Central Asian countries.

This is not the first time that India has established a hospital in Tajikistan, which shares a 1,400-km with Afghanistan. In the 1990s, India had run a famous field hospital at Farkor on the Tajik-Afghan border to treat wounded fighters from the then Northern Alliance that was battling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

It was at the very same hospital that the Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Masood was pronounced dead after being assassinated just two days before the 9/11 terror strikes in 2001. But around a decade ago, India had inexplicably shut down the hospital.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon's visit to India last August, during which the long-standing bilateral partnership was elevated to a strategic partnership, had then laid the groundwork for the new hospital.

With a broad convergence of views on security matters and cross-border terrorism, the close equation with Tajikistan becomes even more important for India now in the backdrop of the drawdown of US-led international forces from Afghanistan by 2014.

The Indian "military outpost" at the Ayni airbase, around 15 km from Tajik capital Dushanbe, also helps New Delhi keep tabs on its economic and strategic interests in Central Asia as well as "any anti-Indian activity" in the terrorism-infested Af-Pak region.

Indian Army, IAF and Border Roads Organisation personnel had worked hard to upgrade the airbase, which includes extension of the runway and construction of three aircraft hangars, an air-control tower and perimeter fencing around the base, at a cost of over Rs 100 crore.

India airlifts military hospital to Tajikistan to strengthen geo-strategic footprint in Central Asia - The Times of India
 

Yusuf

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As I tweeted on this I'll post it here. Its a preparation for Northern Alliance Part II. Just in time I would say as we see all kinds of things happening post 2014
 
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JBH22

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How does Indian planes go to Tajikistan,given that we are surrounded by China and Pak?
Is it a long journey to A-stan through Arabian sea then to Tajikistan..
 

pmaitra

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How does Indian planes go to Tajikistan,given that we are surrounded by China and Pak?
Is it a long journey to A-stan through Arabian sea then to Tajikistan..
Good question. I keep wondering the same thing.

BTW, when I fly to/from US, I fly over several of the -stans in that region. :lol:
 

sorcerer

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How does Indian planes go to Tajikistan,given that we are surrounded by China and Pak?
Is it a long journey to A-stan through Arabian sea then to Tajikistan..
Commercial planes,planes carrying relief supplies/medical supplies etc has certain level of exceptions.That would be my best guess.
 

Yusuf

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How does Indian planes go to Tajikistan,given that we are surrounded by China and Pak?
Is it a long journey to A-stan through Arabian sea then to Tajikistan..
Arabian Sea, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan. Unless we have used civilian charter and notified Pak and overflew their airspace. Those C130s would have gone the long route
 

datguy79

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Interestingly, a railway is going to be built from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan, curiously bypassing Uzbekistan. Also the Uzbeks have some disputes with the Tajiks and Krygyz; and therein lies the rub: India will eventually have to choose who to remain friends with in the central asian region.
 

pmaitra

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Interestingly, a railway is going to be built from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan, curiously bypassing Uzbekistan. Also the Uzbeks have some disputes with the Tajiks and Krygyz; and therein lies the rub: India will eventually have to choose who to remain friends with in the central asian region.
So, how will the railway be built. Along which route?



There are only two ways to bypass Uzbekistan. Either you go through Afghanistan, or go through Kazakhstan.

Moreover, I heard that Abdul Rashid Dostum is mentored by Islam Karimov. How trustworthy is he? He backstabbed Najibullah at the last moment. India cannot afford to annoy Uzbekistan; this is because, they have a pretty important aircraft factory that makes the Ilyushin-76 aircraft, and also parts.
 

Yusuf

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So, how will the railway be built. Along which route?



There are only two ways to bypass Uzbekistan. Either you go through Afghanistan, or go through Kazakhstan.

Moreover, I heard that Abdul Rashid Dostum is mentored by Islam Karimov. How trustworthy is he? He backstabbed Najibullah at the last moment. India cannot afford to annoy Uzbekistan; this is because, they have a pretty important aircraft factory that makes the Ilyushin-76 aircraft, and also parts.
India will play ball with all parties. Right now, India looks well and truly set to create necessary support system to back an anti Taliban force like Northern Alliance.
 

Ray

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Non Pastun Afghanis will accept aid from anyone who is not pro Pashtun.

India will fly its military aircraft over Iran.

Iran is not keen to have Afghanistan in the hands of Pashtuns.
 

Yusuf

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Non Pastun Afghanis will accept aid from anyone who is not pro Pashtun.

India will fly its military aircraft over Iran.

Iran is not keen to have Afghanistan in the hands of Pashtuns.
Northern Alliance had everyone.

I think no one wants to see a Paki backed Pashtun Taliban in Astan.
 

bhramos

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Arabian Sea, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan. Unless we have used civilian charter and notified Pak and overflew their airspace. Those C130s would have gone the long route
back in those days how did India help against Taliban!!!
 

pmaitra

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back in those days how did India help against Taliban!!!
I think PRC gave overflight permission to India. Even they did not want a Taliban upsurge there, plus they were probably in the WOT Coalition side as a protagonist. Just guessing.
 

rock127

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Good move by India :thumb:

With US pulling out(in case they do since Boston Bombings might mean WOT II) there would be some issues for sure.Pakis would try their best to treat AF as it's colony again. Northern Alliance might come up alive and prevent AF going into total control of Talibunnies.

btw Pakis are fuming over this small move by India :lol:

 

rock127

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This is Rahmon's fifth visit to India since Tajikistan became an independent country in 1991 after the Soviet Union fragmented.





India, Tajikistan ink pacts to boost ties

New Delhi: India and Tajikistan signed a raft of agreements on Monday, elevating ties to a strategic partnership as international troops prepare to leave insurgency-wracked Afghanistan.

The pacts, ranging from education, textiles, labour, health, sports and culture, were signed in the presence of Tajik president Emomali Rahmon and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This is Rahmon's fifth visit to India since Tajikistan became an independent country in 1991 after the Soviet Union fragmented.

Describing Tajikistan—which borders Afghanistan where the Taliban have made a comeback and are battling the US-led international troops—as India's key partner in central Asia, Singh said he and Rahmon had agreed that the nations should elevate relations to a strategic partnership "in view of the broad progress made in our bilateral relations, particularly in defence and security cooperation".Singh said both countries had common concerns "particularly in the context of the security transition in Afghanistan", a reference to the imminent departure of international troops from that country.Rahmon said he and Singh had "exchanged views on defence, technical and security collaboration with special emphasis on reinforcing ability to fighting terrorism, extremism and trafficking in narcotics".

India-Tajikistan cooperation on Afghanistan is not new. India had extended assistance to the former Northern Alliance resistance group—headed by Tajik commander Ahmed Shah Masood —in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 when the Taliban were in power in Kabul. India has maintained an airfield at Ayni and operated a field hospital at Farkhor—in Tajikistan.

The Farkhor hospital has been closed but India is planning a new hospital in south Tajikistan for civilian and military use. Indian officials say Muslim-majority Tajikistan shares India's concerns over the Taliban with unrest in northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province spilling into Tajikistan in recent times. Tajikistan and Afghanistan share a 1,400 km porous border and people of Tajik descent form a significant part of Afghanistan's population.

"Tajikistan is important for India in the context of the post 2014 scenario in Afghanistan as well as establishing linkages with Central Asia," said C.U. Bhaskar, analyst with the National Maritime Foundation, a think-tank.

Singh welcomed the resumption of direct air links from Tajik capital city Dushanbe to New Delhi. "We agreed to explore the possibility of establishing transport corridors including rail lines in cooperation with other countries of the region," Singh said, referring to plans to join hands with Iran and other countries to develop overland routes to Afghanistan and Central Asia, which is rich in minerals.
Singh said India would be sending a business delegation to explore investment opportunities in free economic zones in Tajikistan, especially in information technology, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, textiles, leather goods and mining. The Tajik president added tourism and energy to the list proposed by Singh for forming joint ventures.
 

binayak95

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This is at Ayni base right, so what happened with the Farkhor Air Base hospital?? I believe it was closed but surely now it can be restarted. And the 100 military personnel, what about RAW??
 

rock127

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This is at Ayni base right, so what happened with the Farkhor Air Base hospital?? I believe it was closed but surely now it can be restarted. And the 100 military personnel, what about RAW??
Do you really think India would disclose how many RAW members are there in case there are? :sarcastic:
 

datguy79

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So, how will the railway be built. Along which route?



There are only two ways to bypass Uzbekistan. Either you go through Afghanistan, or go through Kazakhstan.

Moreover, I heard that Abdul Rashid Dostum is mentored by Islam Karimov. How trustworthy is he? He backstabbed Najibullah at the last moment. India cannot afford to annoy Uzbekistan; this is because, they have a pretty important aircraft factory that makes the Ilyushin-76 aircraft, and also parts.
Turkmen, Tajik, Afghan Presidents Sign Railroad Agreement

Dostum is closer to Turkey than any other country. He is not trustworthy, but he does recognize that the taliban are his greatest threat. For now, he is just a cog in the wheel of the northern powerbrokers which include Zia Massoud, Nur, and Mohaqeq.
 

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