Delhi has no plans to use Tajik Aini airfield - ambassador.

DUSHANBE, July 7 (Itar-Tass) - India has no plans to use Tajikistan's
Aini military airport reconstructed with Indian money, Indian Ambassador
to Tajikistan Omar Singh said after a meeting with Tajik President Emomali
Rakhmon.
The diplomat ending his mission in Tajikistan said the Indian
government did not have such aim, adding that the Indian authorities were
ready to offer assistance in training pilots and technical personnel of
the airfield.
He said India had financed that project, while the fate of the airport
is prerogative of the Tajik state. He did not specify the sum invested in
reconstruction, stressing that aid had been rendered within the framework
of bilateral military cooperation. However, according to Indian media
outlets, it is about 19.5 million dollars.
The Aini airfield, situated 25 kilometers west of Dushanbe, was a
ground for helicopters during the Afghan campaign of the 1980s. After the
withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, a decision was made to
reconstruct landing strips in bad repair. However, in connection with the
collapse of the Soviet Union and a five-year-long civil war in Tajikistan
following it, the problem of reconstruction was suspended indefinitely.
From time to time, Tajik and foreign media outlets have discussed
rumours about the use of Aini as a military base of India. However, in his
recent public statements, President Rakhmon has made it clear that "there
have been and won't be any other military bases apart from the Russian
one" in the republic.
-0-zhe/usn