Pakistan Refused To Give Military Base To America

Pakistan refused to give military base to America, said – will continue to strive for Afghan peace process.

Pakistan has refused to give the US its military base for counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said this in the Senate on Tuesday.

He said that Pakistan would not give its military bases to the US for future anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan nor allow drone strikes inside Pakistan.

According to a report by The News International, the Foreign Minister also dismissed reports of providing the US with a base in Pakistan.

Saying it was baseless and clarified that Pakistan PM Imran Khan would never allow the US to have its military base nor Pakistan will allow drone attacks inside.

Qureshi said in the meantime, “I want to assure the House that Pakistan is in safe hands.” The statement from Pakistan came after a Pentagon official claimed that Pakistan had allowed the US military to use its airspace.

In addition, he had given ground access to support his presence in Afghanistan.

Responding to the concerns of a senator, Qureshi said, “We were afraid of this thing and are still afraid and worried that circumstances arising in Afghanistan might not take the country back to the 1990s.”

As reported by The News International, Qureshi said that the US planned to withdraw the rest of its troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

But Pakistan would continue to play its role in advancing the peace process in Afghanistan.

Former Senate President Mian Raza Rabbani also said that Pakistan should not allow the US to use its air and ground facilities for action in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources in Washington told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that Pakistan has always allowed the US to have overflight and ground access to facilitate its military presence in Afghanistan and will continue to do so.