Imran Khan during the interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios at PM House in Islamabad on Saturday. Twitter photo

Gulf Today Report

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

Imran reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the use of military bases and categorically stated that Islamabad will not allow it.

The prime minister was asked by the American journalist for his comments on giving access to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Pakistan military bases as was permitted during the government of Pervez Musharraf.

The statement from the prime minister came during the interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios, which will be aired on Sunday or Monday.

“Will you allow the US government to have the CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross border counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda, Daesh and the Taliban?” Swan asked Imran.

“Absolutely no. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan,” the prime minister responded.
Surprised over his clear-cut response of “absolutely not,” the interviewer interrupts the prime minister to reconfirm his words asking, “Seriously?”

Axios on HBO is a documentary-news programme 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, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, Mary Barra, now US President Joe Biden, Andrew Yang and Kamala Harris, among others.

Recently, in his address in the Senate, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ruled out the possibility of providing military bases to the United States for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

He rejected as unfounded the reports to this effect and made it clear that the government would never provide military bases to the US, nor would allow drone attacks inside Pakistan.

In a cabinet briefing, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain 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 PTI-led government that ended ‘drone surveillance’ facility given to the US in the past.