ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said no to the United States on its request of military bases for future operations in Afghanistan.
The statement from the premier came during an interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios.
PM Imran reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the use of military bases and categorically stated that Islamabad will not allow it.
The prime minister was asked by the American journalist for his comments on giving access to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Pakistan military bases as was permitted during the government of Pervez Musharraf.
“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.
“There’s no way we’re going to allow any bases or any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not.”
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.
However, the country has conveyed to Washington that it is not possible.
The quality of counterterrorism and intelligence capabilities in Afghanistan is a critical question facing the Biden administration as U.S. forces move closer to total withdrawal by Sept. 11.
The Biden administration also is exploring options in Central Asia to maintain intelligence on terrorist networks inside Afghanistan, but that is complicated for a different reason: Those countries are in Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence.
Despite an uneasy relationship with Pakistan, whose military has deep ties to the Taliban, the U.S. has conducted hundreds of drone strikes and cross-border counterterrorism operations from Pakistani soil.
But Khan, who was elected in 2018, was unequivocal: Pakistan will not allow the CIA or U.S. special forces to base themselves inside his country ever again, he told Axios.
Khan has long opposed Pakistan cooperating with the U.S. war on terror, but the reality is that he also has no choice but to say this publicly.
Close observers say it would be political suicide for Khan to embrace the presence of the CIA or special forces on Pakistani soil.
American officials privately are still hopeful they can come to a covert arrangement with Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence services.
CIA Director William Burns did not meet with Khan when he made an unannounced trip to Islamabad recently to meet with the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, amid questions about how the CIA will adapt after two decades of intelligence and paramilitary operations in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has had “constructive discussions” with Pakistan about ensuring Afghanistan will never again become a base from which terrorist groups can attack the U.S., but he declined to go into specifics.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress this week that it will take militant groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS possibly two years to develop the capability to strike the U.S. homeland.
That risk will only increase if the Afghan government collapses and the country falls into a civil war, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mark Milley testified.
Getting Pakistan on board with the peace process will be the pivotal factor, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last month in an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel: “The U.S. now plays only a minor role. The question of peace or hostility is now in Pakistani hands.”
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated earlier this month in an interview that Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan, but that certain forces in the area do not want peace.
Pakistan has absolutely rejected to hand up military outposts to the United States, according to the FM, who also said that he has informed all political parties in a briefing that they had no such plans.
“Search for bases could be their wish. There’s no question of giving them bases, we have to see our interest.”
Qureshi was reacting to a New York Times store that claimed talks with Pakistan had hit an “impasse” for the time being. INP
