Army Chief General Bajwa backs govt’s decision to not give bases to US forces

ISLAMABAD – Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said Pakistan would not give airbases to the US.

He expressed these views while responding to questions put by political leaders who had attended a military and intelligence briefing to parliamentarians on national security and the Afghanistan situation.

“You should have put this question to the government. Why have you asked this from me?” Gen Bajwa said when first questioned on the military’s position on this issue. Later, the COAS stood by the government in saying no base would be given to the US.

Pakistan publicly refused to give military bases to the US for operations inside Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-torn country.

Washington had requested Islamabad’s help to keep a check on the situation in Afghanistan and stop it from falling into the hands of terrorists.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan in his address on the floor of the National Assembly had said Pakistan could be a partner in peace with the US but not in conflict. He had underlined that Pakistan became a target for militants when it joined the so-called US-led war against terror and sent its army into the tribal regions.