Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has made it clear that the country

would "absolutely not" permit any of its bases or use of its territory to the
United States for any kind of action inside Afghanistan.
"Absolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of
action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not," the Prime
Minister said in an interview given to Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios, Dawn reported.

The interview will be aired on Sunday, on the Axios website.

The Prime Minister''s statement came after being asked whether Pakistan would allow
the American government to have CIA here in the country to conduct cross-border
counterterrorism missions against Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has ruled out the
possibility of providing military bases to the United States for counterterrorism
operations in Afghanistan.

Taliban has welcomed the Pakistani government's decision not to give its military
bases to American forces after their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"We welcome the decision taken by Pakistani authorities not to give its bases to US
forces", Taliban spokesperson Sohail Shaheen, told The Nation on phone from Doha.
"The demand by US forces for having bases in Pakistan is unjustified, and Pakistan
responded rightly," Shaheen said.

This comes amid reports that the negotiations for the military bases in the region
have reached an impasse, for now, The New York Times reported.

"Some American officials (told the newspaper) 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 NYT report said earlier this week.

Dawn further reported that the Foreign Minister had 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.
'Absolutely Not': Pak On Allowing Military Bases To US, Says Report
"There is no way we are going to allow any bases," Pak PM Imran Khan said. (File
photo)

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Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has made it clear that the country
would "absolutely not" permit any of its bases or use of its territory to the
United States for any kind of action inside Afghanistan.
"Absolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of
action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not," the Prime
Minister said in an interview given to Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios, Dawn reported.

The interview will be aired on Sunday, on the Axios website.

The Prime Minister''s statement came after being asked whether Pakistan would allow
the American government to have CIA here in the country to conduct cross-border
counterterrorism missions against Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has ruled out the
possibility of providing military bases to the United States for counterterrorism
operations in Afghanistan.

Taliban has welcomed the Pakistani government's decision not to give its military
bases to American forces after their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"We welcome the decision taken by Pakistani authorities not to give its bases to US
forces", Taliban spokesperson Sohail Shaheen, told The Nation on phone from Doha.
"The demand by US forces for having bases in Pakistan is unjustified, and Pakistan
responded rightly," Shaheen said.

This comes amid reports that the negotiations for the military bases in the region
have reached an impasse, for now, The New York Times reported.

"Some American officials (told the newspaper) 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 NYT report said earlier this week.

Dawn further reported that the Foreign Minister had 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.

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In a cabinet briefing, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also ruled out
the possibility of any airbase of the US in the country saying all such facilities
were under Pakistan''s own use.

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Comments
The US is in talks with Pakistan and other regional countries for cooperation in
future operations in the war-torn country to keep a check on militancy, as per The
News International.