Pakistan rules out possibility of giving military bases to US for anti-terrorism missions

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, on May 25, said that the country would not provide its military bases to the US for future counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. Speaking in the Senate, he also ruled out the possibility of Islamabad allowing America to conduct “Kinetic drone” operations against militants in Afghanistan. His comments came amidst reports of Pakistan authorities allegedly negotiating a new arrangement with Washington to facilitate future US counterterrorism operations after it withdraws its troops from the war-torn nation.

“Let this house and the Pakistani nation be a witness to my testimony that under [Prime Minister] Imran Khan there will be no American base built on Pakistani soil. Forget about the past,” he told the upper house of the parliament. “The government of Pakistan has categorically said that we will not allow kinetic use of drones nor are we interested in the surveillance of your drones. That’s a very clear-cut policy of this government,” Qureshi added.   

Responding to the concern of a senator, Qureshi further asserted that it was because Pakistan still feared that the “vacuum” created by the American troop pullout could bring the decade of 1990s back where Taliban insurgence was on the rise. "Because what we were fearing and we still fear and are concerned that a vacuum created in Afghanistan can drag or suck the country back into the decade of 1990s,” he said.

No air operations 

In addition to Qureshi, Mian Raza Rabbani, ex-chairman Senate, also said that Pakistan should not allow the United States the use of its air and ground facilities for action in Afghanistan. This came in contradiction to an earlier given statement by a Pentagon official, who blatantly confirmed that Pakistan had given a green signal to the US military to use its airspace. Pakistan, at present, hosts Saudi Arabian personnel under an agreement inked back in 1982. Last month, US President Joe Biden announced a withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending a 20 year-long episode of trial and turbulence. The decision was reiterated by NATO, a collision force with the majority of soldiers belonging to Germany. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: AP