Pakistan would stick to its decision not to provide US bases: Sheikh Rasheed

Sheikh Rasheed, Pakistan’s interior minister, said on Sunday that Pakistan will stick to its resolve not to offer air bases to the US, as the region’s politics shifts with the withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan.

“Pakistan strives for peace in Afghanistan,” the interior minister said during a news conference in Rawalpindi, emphasising that the government and opposition were on the same side.

Despite fresh fears about the potential of a civil war, US President Joe Biden said this week that the military operation in Afghanistan will finish on August 31.

“We didn’t go to Afghanistan to establish a country,” Biden remarked. “The Afghan people alone have the right and duty to select their own destiny and how they wish to manage their nation.”
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, said earlier this month that if the government decides against it, Pakistan will not give the US airbases. He was responding to questions from journalists after attending a military and intelligence briefing for parliamentarians on national security and the Afghanistan situation.
“It is critical to begin discussions with the Afghan Taliban, not only for Pakistan but for the whole region,” the interior minister added.