ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated his government’s position over lending Pakistani military bases to the United States to monitor the situation in Afghanistan in an interview to a foreign television channel, reported the Associated Press of Pakistan on Saturday.
“Absolutely not,” Khan responded emphatically during an interview to Axios on HBO channel. “There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan.”
Pakistan’s PM @imrankhanPTI to @jonathanvswan on whether he’d allow the U.S. to set up a presence in his country to carry out counterterrorism missions against ISIS and the Taliban in Afghanistan: “Absolutely not.”
Watch the full #AxiosOnHBO interview Sunday @ 6pm ET on @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/9q9JgGaxAa
— Axios (@axios) June 18, 2021
The Pakistani prime minister has remained a staunch critic of his country’s decision to join the US-led war on terror in 2001, describing it as “one of the biggest blunders” that not only led to the killings of tens of thousands of Pakistanis but also proved costly in economic terms.
He slammed previous administrations for allowing the Americans to use Pakistani air bases to operate their drones that killed dozens of militant leaders in the Af-Pak region while also resulting in collateral damage in his country’s tribal territories.
Some recent media reports suggested Pakistan was willing to offer military bases to US forces, though the country’s foreign office said no “such proposal [had been] envisaged.”
The country’s foreign minister and national security adviser also ruled out the possibility of allowing the US to use Pakistani military bases, though speculation regarding a conversation between Washington and Islamabad over the issue did not fade away.
The prime minister’s interview is scheduled to be aired on HBO Max on Sunday.