Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said his country would not provide its bases to the United States to keep a small contingent of troops for future counter-terrorism threats emanating from Afghanistan. 

Qureshi’s clarification came after media reports began speculating that Pakistan might allow Americans to use its bases. All foreign troops are set to end their presence in Afghanistan by September this year. 

The US has recently admitted that they were in talks with Central Asian countries and other neighboring countries of Afghanistan for placing its counter-terrorism forces as a window on Afghanistan and the region after they exit from Afghanistan.

Qureshi also claimed that Pakistan favored a responsible withdrawal from the country. “Because what we were fearing and we still fear and are concerned that a vacuum created in Afghanistan can drag or suck the country back into the decade of 1990s. There could be anarchy and God forbid a civil war,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.

US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Affairs David F. Helvey, had recently told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the US would continue its conversation with Pakistan because it had a “critical role in restoring peace to Afghanistan.”

However, the security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate further with the Taliban mounting daily attacks on at least 28 of its 34 provinces. Despite international efforts, through various platforms, the power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government remains elusive. 

(SAM)