Bagram Ambition;

Opposition across the region

- BY ANAND KUMAR

Bagram Airbase

The debate over the Bagram Airbase has once again placed Afghanistan at the centre of global strategic calculations.

US President Donald Trump's renewed demand to regain control of the base, which the country abandoned during its hurried withdrawal in 2021, has triggered widespread concern and opposition across the region. What might appear, at first glance, as an isolated assertion of American military ambition, is, in fact, deeply tied to Washington's broader strategy of containing China and reasserting US influence in a region where its presence has sharply declined.

Yet, for most regional powers - India, China, Russia, Iran, and even Pakistan - Trump's move is seen as a destabilising proposition that risks reopening old wounds and creating new strategic uncertainties. When the US signed the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, in 2020, it marked a turning point in its long and costly engagement in Afghanistan. Trump himself, who negotiated the deal, hailed it as a path to ending America's "forever wars." However, following his election defeat, the actual withdrawal was overseen by President Joe Biden, who completed the exit in 2021.

The departure not only symbolised the end of two decades of American military intervention but also left behind a vacuum in Afghanistan's security architecture. Among the many consequences of that withdrawal was the loss of Bagram Airbase, a sprawling military complex that had served as the nerve centre of US operations during the "war on terror." Now, four years later, Trump's repeated calls to "get Bagram back" have reignited strategic anxieties. On several occasions in 2025, he has publicly expressed regret over giving up the base "for nothing," insisting that the US wants it returned.