Indian Base Set Up in Tajikistan

[bemildred]

Hmmmm...


NEW DELHI, India -- India has set up its first permanent
overseas military base in the central Asian nation of Tajikistan to
safeguard its strategic interests in the region -- a move that has
upset Pakistan, defense ministry officials said Thursday.
Indian military engineers have renovated the former Tajik military
base at a cost of 500 million rupees ($10 million), a senior
defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The
base has not been used since 1985.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was meeting
with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov in Moscow on Thursday,
was scheduled to travel to Tajikistan later in the day.
The air base in Ayni, 10 kilometers northeast of the capital
Dushanbe, will have a runway for fighter and transport aircraft,
the official said.

Moscow Times

[kalian]

1. Strange development to say the least

But then again...India is starting to flex its regional military
muscle.

[La_Serpiente]

2. I think a lot of people

do not realize that Central Asia will be the next hotspot for the world. The Taliban is moving into there and the post-soviet sattilite states already have corrupt governments. For example, there is a fasting protest in the country of Ajerbaisan by the opposistion. The country felt that the election was corrupt, but the

However, countries from the US and the EU said the election was valid. Gee, I wonder why???? Maybe it is because of the oil. Yes, Ajerbaisan is full of oil and there are many competing interestes. I ask everyone, will Central Asia be the world's newest gas-station?

You can read more here:

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav111303.shtml