Here how India and RAW is helping Musharraf
Setting up of Ayni Airbase: RAWs shadow deepens over FATA
Momin Iftikhar
Completion of major construction and refurbishment works at Ayni Air base in Tajikistan; located 15 KM northwest of Dushanbe has operationalized the first Indian Airbase in foreign lands. The 6 KM long runway has been completed and renovation of accommodation barracks and administration block is being given finishing touches. The rush of work is over yet 50-60 engineers are still stationed there. In addition to the Ayni Air Base, Indians have developed Farkhor as an outpost situated close to Afghanistan - Tajikistan Border.
Ayni Airbase was initially developed during the early nineties as a modest intelligence outpost with air landing facility for channeling vital military support, military advisors and intelligence operators into Afghanistan. It was operated by RAWs Aviation Research Center (ARC), which flew vital logistic and operational sorties to support Panjshiri Forces, then under threat of defeat from Taleban. In addition, ARC technicians at Ayni provided vital repairs to keep Northern Alliances Soviet-made Mi-17 and Mi-35 attack helicopters in fighting trim. Ayni has now been transformed by India into a full fledged air force base capable of supporting fighter jet operations. The Times of India has reported that IAF is considering stationing two MiG 29 squadrons at Ayni which would give Indias military longer strategic reach in the CAR. In addition to the IAF, ARC elements at Ayni operate a fleet of spy aircraft that provide aerial reconnaissance, communications and electronics intelligence and imagery analysis. Needless to say that
Pakistan remains the focus of their clandestine operations.
Ayni is complemented by the Farkhor military and logistics base, located at the adjoining Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. The base remained a lifeline to the beleaguered Northern Alliance during its tussle for supremacy with Taleban. As per Indias own admission, its presence in Farkhor enabled her to provide Northern Alliance with abundant military hardware and liaison. Indian admission that it supplied the Northern Alliance with high altitude warfare equipment worth around $8 million bares only the tip of an iceberg. A contingent of Indian defence advisers, including a Brigadier, was based here to advise the Northern Alliance in conduct of operations. Ever since, Indian Army has maintained a skeleton presence at Farkhor, enjoying a capability - thanks to the Ayni Airbase - to build up expeditiously if deemed essential. The logistical aspects at the base are well manifested by the 25-bed hospital that is being operated by the Indian military.
India, like many of the erstwhile players of the Great Game, feels enticed by the lure of strategic opportunities offered by the Central Asian Region and its abundant energy resources. With Russia lying to its North, China to its East, Iran and Afghanistan to the South, its location offers chess board like manipulation possibilities to the regional and extra regional powers. With the decimation of Taleban, Indians decided to consolidate their bridgehead in Tajikistan to pursue strategic ambitions in Central Asia centered on access to energy resources - and to fish for trouble on Pak-Afghan Border. Indias energy requirements are expected to double by 2010 to 3.5 million barrels per day (mbd) from 1.9 mbd at present and it is desperate to tap badly needed energy supplies. In addition, raking up trouble in Xingjian Province of China remains high on RAWs agenda. Consequently, in 2002 a bilateral agreement with Tajikistan formalized Indian presence at Farkhor, giving India an opportunity to substantively raise its military profile in the Region.
Given the present day context, Farkhor- Ayni foothold provides RAW with multidimensional opportunities to spread its tentacles in the entire region, particularly in Afghanistan with a focus at creating trouble in FATA Region of Pakistan. The bases facilitate her unhindered capability to mobilize logistic support and move military personnel and intelligence operators in and out of Afghanistan. It is important to note that in 2001, Indians were able to use the Farkhor base as a hub for airlifting over three hundred Taleban prisoners from the Northern Alliance Jails. These prisoners, later, became clay pigeons for fake encounters conducted in IHK and the Indian hinterland to promote perceptions of cross border terrorism and provide justification for Indian pursuit of coercive diplomacy vis-à-vis Pakistan.
In addition to using her presence in Tajikistan for clandestine operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, RAW is using Farkhor - Ayni complex as a major hub for trafficking drugs into Europe and Asia. According to Central Asian Diplomatic sources, a heavy Indian espionage network in Afghanistan duly supported by the Tajikistan base has enabled RAW to cash on abundant poppy production in Afghanistan during recent years. Heroin producing laboratories in inaccessible areas, controlled by the Northern Alliance warlords, are working overtime under RAWs sponsorship to produce their deadly output which finds well-oiled outlets through scrutiny free Farkhor and Ayni bases. This easy and abundant supply of untraceable money is used by RAW in creating instability in Afghanistan by bribing the warlords and purchasing and distributing arms from the international black market. In addition, the availability of drug generated funds have enabled Indians to buy loyalties of anti state elements and conduct terrorist strikes not only in FATA but also to fan the flames of insurgency in Balochistan.
According to observers, the Ayni- Farkhor complex has greatly added to the Indian capability for launching clandestine operations on Pakistans Western border with Afghanistan. With these bases acting as staging posts between New Delhi and the four Indian Consulates located at Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat (in North and North West) and Kandahar and Jalalabad (in the South) entire Afghanistan lies in RAWs clutches which has heavily loaded the dice against Pakistan. Unrestrained freedom of action provided by Kandahar and Jalalabad Consulates has exposed Pakistans FATA area to RAWs manipulations, which heretofore had remained inaccessible for Indian espionage operations. At a time when India is placing lot of emphasis on CBMs with Pakistan to create an atmosphere of trust, the matter needs to be raised at the highest diplomatic level.
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