ISLAMABAD: Pakistan would never compromise its sovereignty or become a "partner in conflict" with the United States, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday, amid media reports the US wants to use Pakistani military bases to carry out counter-terror operations in Afghanistan after its troops leave the war-battered country.
US President Joe Biden has set a deadline of September 11 for US troops to fully withdraw from Afghanistan, but recent reports suggest most of the American troops will be out by mid-July.
The quality of counterterrorism and intelligence capabilities in Afghanistan is a critical question facing the Biden administration as the withdrawal nears, with media outlets reporting in recent weeks that the US was seeking military bases in Pakistan.
Khan told "Axios on HBO" in a wide-ranging interview that aired last Sunday that Pakistan would "absolutely not" allow the CIA to use bases on its soil for cross-border counterterrorism missions.
"I urge my nation to never compromise on their sovereignty under any fear," Khan said in an address to the National Assembly on Wednesday evening. "I am asked if Pakistan will give bases to America, and I respond: has the US acknowledged our role in the war on terror as one of their frontline allies?"
"We can be partners in peace with America, but not partners in conflict."
In the past, despite an uneasy relationship with Pakistan, the US has conducted hundreds of drone strikes and cross-border counterterrorism operations from Pakistani soil.
Predicting a "difficult time" for Pakistan after the US withdrawal, Khan said it was in the interest of the US and Pakistani that there was peace in Afghanistan.
"We have told everybody that peace in Afghanistan is in our interest," he said. "We are thinking about regional connectivity for peace and economic growth."
Recalling Pakistan's decision to join the US-led "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Khan said he had never felt more “insulted."
"We decided to become a frontline state for the Americans in war on terror. I questioned repeatedly, what did we have to do with the war?" the PM said.
He added the while the US was still blaming Islamabad for its failure in Afghanistan, it was Pakistan that had lost 70,000 lives and suffered $150 billion in economic losses due to the US-led campaign.
"That was our darkest time ... we had to compromise our self-esteem," Khan said. "The nation that doesn't respect itself, the world doesn't care about it."
