ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Tuesday it would not provide its air bases to the United States after Washington pulled its forces out of Afghanistan, adding it would protect its own interest and continue to facilitate Afghan peace process.
“No, we don’t intend to allow boots on the ground and Pakistan isn’t transferring any bases [to the US forces],” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
The statement comes after US President Joe Biden said last month his administration would pull out the American combat forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 to bring about an end to the longest war in his country’s history.
Biden warned the Taliban that the US would defend itself and its partners from militant attacks, adding that his government would “reorganize its counterterrorism capabilities and assets in the region” to prevent the possibility of another terrorist threat.
Qureshi said that Pakistan was formulating an “explicit policy” regarding its partnership with the US for peace in Afghanistan.
“We will be partners in peace, and this will be our role … [as] a facilitator,” he said.
In his congressional testimony last month, Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie, the top official of US Central Command, said his country was engaged in a significant diplomatic effort to determine where it would base a counterterrorism force in the region to deter terrorist groups after American troops pulled out of Afghanistan.
However, he added that no such understanding had been reached with any country in Afghanistan’s neighborhood.
Dispelling the impression of any pressure on Pakistan from Washington for provision of air bases, the foreign minister said: “There is no pressure … [and] Pakistan will protect its own interest.”
The minister said that peace and stability in Afghanistan was in his country’s interest.
“It’s our need and we want it to happen this way,” he said while vowing to continue support for the US-led Afghan peace process.
Qureshi maintained that Afghans would have to take ownership of the peace process to make it a success. He also welcomed the Taliban announcement on Monday for a three-day cease-fire during Eid holidays in Afghanistan.
“This is a positive development. The reduction in violence will help provide conducive environment for negotiations,” he said.
Pakistan’s military bases and land routes played a crucial role in facilitating and sustaining the US-led military invasion of landlocked Afghanistan.
While Americans operated their drones from some Pakistani air bases in the past, Islamabad ultimately decided to get them back. Pakistani defense analysts say it is not in their country’s interest to return these bases to the US.
“The US wants to keep its surveillance of Afghanistan after its troops pull out of that country,” Lt. Gen. (r) Amjad Shoaib told Arab News. “That’s why it is looking for options in the region to house some aircrafts, drones and maintenance system.”
He said the US may maintain its presence in India with which it has already signed a logistical support agreement, though it would still require Pakistan’s permission to use an air corridor to reach Afghanistan.
“We have already suffered a lot due to the US war in Afghanistan and cannot allow Americans to us our military bases again,” he added.
