Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirmed that his country refused to give any military base to the U.S. for monitoring Afghanistan after foreign forces’ withdrawal from Kabul, local media said on Tuesday.
Speaking to Geo News, a local broadcaster, Qureshi said his government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, has no intention to give its military bases to Washington.
"Search for bases could be their wish. There's no question of giving them [U.S.] bases, we have to see our interest," Qureshi told the local broadcaster.
Qureshi was responding to a recent report by The New York Times, citing American officials as saying that "Pakistan wants to allow U.S. access to a base as long as it can control how it is used", adding that “public opinion in the country has been strongly against any renewed presence by the United States."
Some American officials said that negotiations with Pakistan had reached an impasse for now. Others have said the option remains on the table and a deal is possible, the U.S. daily said in its report published on Sunday.
The report also claimed that CIA Director William J. Burns made an unannounced visit in recent weeks to Pakistan, where he had met with the country’s military and intelligence chiefs. However, there is no official word from Islamabad so far.
U.S. President Joe Biden has set a Sept. 11 deadline for all American forces to leave Afghanistan with the exception of a handful that will be tasked with securing Washington's embassy in Kabul.
