TTI News: Prime Minister Imran Khan has clearly said that Pakistan will not give its bases to the US for operations in Afghanistan after the latter’s troops’ withdrawal.
In the interview prime minister is of the clear and vivid view that no one will be using Pakistan land for any attack on Afghan soil.
In an interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios, which will be aired Monday 3:00am PST, the premier reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the use of military bases and categorically stated that Islamabad will not allow it.
The US is in talks with Pakistan and other regional countries for cooperation in future operations in the war-torn country to keep a check on militancy.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that Pakistan will absolutely not allow United States to use its soil for operations in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister, in an interview with foreign media, said that he will not allow the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use bases on Pakistan’s soil for cross-border missions after American forces withdraw from Afghanistan.
However, the country has conveyed to Washington that it is not possible.
The prime minister was again asked by the US media for his comments on giving access to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to military bases.
“Will you allow the American government to have the CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross border counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda, ISIS and the Taliban?” Swan asked the premier.
“Absolutely not,” PM Imran Khan responded.
Few days ago, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, speaking in session of Senate, also has rejected the notion that Pakistan will allow the United States to set up a base inside the country and asserted that under Imran Khan, Pakistan is in safe hands.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the news was completely baseless. “I call upon the nation to bear witness that under Imran Khan, there will be no American base on Pakistani soil. This is a clear policy of our government, Pakistan is in safe hands”, he said.
“Peace in Afghanistan will enable the entire region to reap the benefits of CPEC and Gwadar will become a trading hub. This is my dream. May Allah grant us success,” said Qureshi, adding that Pakistan used to be called part of the problem but today it has become part of the solution.
The tweets says that Pakistan will “absolutely not” allow the CIA to use bases on its soil for cross-border counter-terrorism missions after U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan tells @jonathanvswan in a must-see interview airing Sunday.
“There’s no way we’re going to allow any bases or any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not.”
‘Pak-US discussions moving towards an impasse’
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had earlier said Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan, but there are some elements who do not want peace in the region.
The FM had categorically stated that Pakistan has refused to give military bases to the US and added that he had told all the political parties in a briefing that they have no such intention.
“Search for bases could be their wish. There’s no question of giving them bases, we have to see our interest.”
Qureshi was responding to a report by the New York Times which said that negotiations with Pakistan had reached an “impasse” for now.
“Some American officials said that negotiations with Pakistan had reached an impasse for now. Others have said the option remains on the table and a deal is possible,” the NYT report had stated.
The publication said that the rapid withdrawal of US troops has left the agency [CIA] seeking ways to maintain its intelligence-gathering, war-fighting and counterterrorism operations in the country.
‘US response as Constructive talks with Pakistan’
Earlier, in a press briefing at the White House, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had said that they had constructive discussions through military, intelligence, and diplomatic channels with Pakistan about the future of America’s capabilities to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a base from which al Qaeda or ISIS or any other terrorist group can attack the United States.
“But in terms of the specifics of what that will look like, that will have to remain in those private channels as we work through them,” he had said without sharing further details.
Sullivan had said they are talking to a wide range of countries about how they build effective, over-the-horizon capacity, both from an intelligence and a defence perspective, to be able to suppress the terrorism threat in Afghanistan.
