4. Support to Northern Alliance
After the rise of Pakistan and American backed Taliban in Afghanistan, India decided to side with the Northern Alliance (a resistance force against the Taliban government) and the Soviet Union.
By 1996, RAW had built a 25 bed military hospital at the Farkhor Air Base.
This airport was used by the India's Aviation Research Centre, the reconnaissance arm of RAW, to repair and operate the Northern Alliance's aerial support.
This relationship was further cemented in the 2001 Afgan war.
India supplied the Northern Alliance high altitude warfare equipment worth around US$8–10 million.
RAW was the first intelligence agency to determine the extent of the Kunduz airlift.
