No more military bases for US on Pakistani soil, Pakistan tells America
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*Pakistan ruled out Tuesday the possibility of again providing its military bases to the United States for future counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, as US troops prepare to completely leave the country by September 11, VOA reported. *
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made the remarks to reporters in Islamabad, explaining that his government has adopted a policy that allows it to be "only partners in peace," and not involved in any future US war.
“No sir, we do not intend to allow boots on the ground and no [US] bases are being transferred to Pakistan,” Qureshi said when asked whether his government is under pressure to give military bases to the US.
The report said that US President Joe Biden’s administration has acknowledged it is in talks with several Central Asian neighbors of Afghanistan to examine where it can reposition troops to prevent the landlocked country from once again becoming a terrorist base for groups like al-Qaida.
But US officials have not named Pakistan, nor have they commented on media speculation that the subject of bases might be under bilateral discussions.
Qureshi said “we feel” the Taliban’s engagement in the Afghan peace process would bring and enhance the “international respectability and recognition” that the group required.
“If they want to be acceptable, if they want delisting to take place, if they want recognition then engagement, giving up violence and looking for a political solution is in their political interest,” he said.
In the meantime, the US forces in Afghanistan have handed over one facility to the Afghan National Army and transferred more than 1,800 pieces of equipment to be destroyed since the American drawdown from the country began May 1, US Central Command said Tuesday, according to a report published by Stars and Stripes.
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