Pakistan says no US military base on its soil

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan has vehemently rejected speculation about the presence of a US military or air base on its soil.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said on Monday: “There is no US military or air base in Pakistan, nor is any such proposal being envisaged.”

Speculation in this regard was baseless and irresponsible, the spokesperson said, stressing the avoidance of such rumors.

He said Pakistan and the United States had a framework of cooperation in terms of air lines of communication (ALOC) and ground lines of communication (GLOC) in place since 2001.

“No new agreement has been made in this regard,” the official explained, scorning media reports regarding the basing of US troops on Pakistan’s soil.

Also on Monday, some Afghan sources confirmed the US was busy constructing a new military base across the Durand Line.

A US official, however, recently said no agreement had been reached with Afghanistan’s neighbours on basing American troops.

Earlier in the week, a Pentagon official claimed that Pakistan had allowed the US military to use its airspace and gave it ground access to support its presence in Afghanistan.

David F Helvey, assistant secretary of defense, said the US would continue talks with Pakistan because it had a critical role in restoring peace to Afghanistan.

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