Overview
- MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed India ended its presence at Ayni and pulled out personnel and equipment in 2022.
- Officials cited the expiry of a bilateral agreement around four years ago, with details of the arrangement not publicly documented.
- Reporting attributes India’s diminished access to Russian operational control and Chinese objections, though these factors have not been officially confirmed.
- India had upgraded the Soviet-era base in the 2000s, with some reports putting the investment near $70 million and noting runway, ATC, and hangar improvements.
- The facility, once hosting temporary IAF deployments, was last used in 2021 to evacuate Indians from Afghanistan and is widely described as India’s only overseas military outpost.