US will ‘not get bases’ in Pakistan

Military leadership tells lawmakers ready to pay the price of saying ‘no’ to Washington

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan is ready to face any consequences but will not permit the US to establish any airbases on its soil, the military leadership informed a select members of parliament from both sides of the aisle on Thursday.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security was also informed that the US appeared to be deliberately leaving behind a “mismanaged and unstable” Afghanistan in order to undermine China, Pakistan and the region.

“Pakistan is not going to give military bases to the US; we are not going to fight their proxy war,” a participant of the meeting said, after attending the briefing, adding: “The US is once again leaving behind an unfinished job.”

“Nearly 70,000 people were martyred since the US did it the first time,” the lawmaker said.

According to the parliamentarian, the briefing also suggested that the “US doesn’t want to see peace in the region” while emphasising that “peace in Afghanistan is important for Pakistan”.

Referring to the briefing, a key government minister also confirmed that Pakistan has decided that it will not give bases to the US and was ready to face the consequences of its decision.

The PTI cabinet member said that the military leadership has told that neither any bases were given to the US since 2018 nor was there any drone attack, saying the same was earlier decided in a cabinet meeting. “The military leadership has basically reiterated what the government has already decided,” he said

On the absence of Prime Minister Imran Khan from the meeting, the cabinet minister said, “The prime minister wanted to attend the session but the PML-N gave a message to the National Assembly speaker that they would walk out from the meeting if the premier comes to attend it.” Sharing more details, he said, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pointed out in his speech that the PM’s absence from such an important meeting was not a good gesture. To this, he said, the speaker asked him to “enquire from Shehbaz Sharif why the PM is absent”.

Read more: Pakistan desires good ties with US, Afghanistan: NSA

Inside the assembly hall, which was declared a committee premises for the session, a screen was installed right beneath the National Assembly speaker’s desk.

On the one side of the screen, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed sat, while on the other side Speaker Qaiser and the NA secretary sat.

In the session, which lasted for over six hours with several breaks, the army chief and the DG ISI gave detailed presentations, highlighting “Pakistan-sponsored and coordinated” efforts for the Afghan peace process and answered lawmakers’ questions.

Those who attended the session said that the Afghan issue was discussed at length. They also said that Kashmir and internal issues as well as some external issues would be discussed in the next session which was expected in a few days.

While elaborating, another lawmaker said that the military leadership told the participants that Pakistan played key role in the Afghan peace deal and had been trying to make President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban to sit across the table.

“We have tried but the Taliban are not ready to sit down since the US has announced the date for withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he said. “The US dream of introducing a democratic system could not be achieved as it is unacceptable to the Taliban, who wish to run the system based on Sharia,” he added.

The military leadership, according to insiders, told the participants that civil war had already begun in Afghanistan but reports of gains by the Afghan Taliban were exaggerated and that Kabul was not immediately falling down.

“Kabul is not going to fall down in the near future. The real resistance will begin at Kabul,” said one participant, while sharing the assessment of military authorities. Yet another lawmaker, while confirming the same, said that Taliban were gaining hold of several other areas with a rapid speed.

The meeting was informed that the major worry is the influx of new refugees, which the meeting was told, Pakistan didn’t have the capacity to handle.

While main opposition leaders, including Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and others, were in attendance, Prime Minister Imran Khan was conspicuous by his absence. Apart from the COAS and the ISI DG, the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar were also in attendance.

In the briefing, the parliamentarians were informed about the impending Afghan challenge and Pakistan’s strategy. The military authorities painted a grim picture of the future of Afghanistan and informed the committee about the negative fallout of the new wave of unrest in the neighbouring country.

Several participants, who spoke on condition of anonymity, felt that there was nothing new in the briefing except that it was given in a more elaborate manner both by the army chief and the ISI DG.

The closed-door meeting was convened against the backdrop of precarious security situation in the Afghanistan, which could have grave implications for Pakistan.

PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal, while refraining from talking about the in-camera briefing, said that the government should call a joint session of parliament and prepare a national response in line with the suggestions given by the lawmakers.

He said that Afghanistan was a direct challenge for Pakistan as the situation there gravely impacted the country.

Brief discussions with several other lawmakers, who leaving the assembly premises after the meeting, revealed that the discussion took place in a smooth way and all the questions were answered.

Senior US and military officials have already warned that a civil war in Afghanistan will affect Pakistan the most. The unrest in Afghanistan will likely trigger a fresh wave of refugees, embolden terrorist groups, and create a host of other challenges for Pakistan.

Islamabad has played a key role in bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table that led to the signing of landmark Doha deal. However, Prime Minister Imran said that Pakistan’s influence over the group had greatly diminished after the US gave a timeline for troop withdrawal.

US President Joe Biden after a long and hard review of the Afghan situation had announced in April that all US troops would come back home by September 11. However, the process of drawdown was likely to complete much ahead of the deadline, as the US and NATO forces have already withdrawn much of their forces.

Since the troop withdrawal began, the Afghan Taliban have made rapid inroads, capturing several districts even in the north, which never remained their stronghold. The UN even warned that the Taliban were laying a siege around big cities, including capital Kabul, to take over.

The senior US commander in Afghanistan hinted at the possible air strikes against the Taliban if they did not stop their march. Against this backdrop, the ISI DG informed the meeting that Pakistan with all its honesty played a positive and constructive role that helped brought the Taliban to the negotiating table.

“We strongly believe that the durable peace in Afghanistan is prerequisite for the peace in South Asia,” the parliamentarians were told by the military leadership.

As per the handout issued by the ministry information, the participants were given a comprehensive briefing on the current situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and the overall internal and external security challenges.

The meeting was informed that Pakistan would welcome a “true representative government” in Afghanistan, while continue to play its constructive role in facilitating the peace in the neighbouring country.

The meeting was also that Pakistan’s territory was not being used in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, a clear reference to allegations often levelled by certain elements in Kabul that the Taliban were operating out of Pakistan.

Similarly, the meeting was informed that Islamabad expected the same from Afghanistan that it would not let its soil to be used against Pakistan.

The issue of airbases to the US also one of the subjects of discussion and the meeting was informed that Pakistan would not get indulged into someone else’s war.

Prime Minister Imran also made it clear the other day that Pakistan would be “partner in peace but not in conflict” in a clear message to the US, which wanted to maintain over-the-horizon capability for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan after leaving the country.

According to the handout, the participants of the meeting expressed satisfaction over the briefing. The Parliamentary Committee on National Security after question-and-answer session presented their recommendations that would be incorporated in Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan and other important issues.