‘Absolutely not’, asserts PM Khan on use of Pakistan bases by US

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically said that Pakistan would “absolutely not” allow the United States to use any bases and use of its territory for any sort of action inside Afghanistan.

“Absolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not,” the Prime Minister told Jonathan Swan in an interview on Axios on HBO.

In an excerpt of the interview shared on Axios’ Twitter, which is scheduled to be aired today (Sunday), Swan asks the Prime Minister: “Would you allow the American government to have CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross-border counterterrorism missions against al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban?”

Stunned over Khan’s clear-cut response of “absolutely not”, the interviewer interrupts the Prime Minister asking, “seriously?” to reconfirm his words.

Axios on HBO is a documentary news program that combines the reporting of Axios journalists with the expertise of HBO filmmakers to explore the collision of tech, media, business, and politics. The series has featured interviews with former US president Donald Trump, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, Tesla boss Elon Musk, General Motors’ Mary Barra, current US President Joe Biden, New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and US Vice President Kamala Harris, among others.

Recently, in his address at Senate, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi ruled out the possibility of providing Pakistan’s military bases to the United States for counterterror operations in Afghanistan. He rejected as unfounded reports to that effect and made it clear the government would “never provide military bases to the US, nor would allow drone attacks inside Pakistan”.

In a cabinet briefing, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also ruled out the possibility of any airbase of the United States in Pakistan saying all such facilities were under Pakistan’s own use.

He said it was the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government which ended “drone surveillance” facility given to the US in the past. “All the airbases are under the use of Pakistan. Right now, no negotiations in this regard are underway as Pakistan cannot give any airbase [to any country],” he said.