US had military talks with Pakistan Sullivan confirms.

June 08,2021

ISLAMABAD:

 Jake Sullivan the US national security adviser confirmed on Monday that the United States had discussions with Pakistan in the military, intelligence and diplomatic channels to make sure that Afghanistan never again becomes a base from which terrorist groups would attack the US – but he did not give details about it.

Sullivan told during a press breifing on Monday in response to a question on US's willingness to have a drone base in Pakistan.

As the US is willing to end the foreign war in history,  it is exploring options to maintain military and intelligence footprint in the region as part of its contingency plan to deal with the possible resurgence of terrorist groups.

 One option is to seek new bases in the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan where it can make or ensure surveillance through the skies and even use drones to take out targets.

It is, however, facing a very critical situation as central Asian states bordering Afghanistan are unwilling to station American assets in their backyard because of the Russian influence while Pakistan is also not very much interested to expand such a facility. 

Since the reports surfaced in the US media about the possible deal between Pakistan and the US, Islamabad has repeatedly denied such reports. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the floor of parliament and media interviews as well as Foreign Office spokesperson in his weekly briefing clrearly mentiond that there was no proposal on the table to allow the US to set up bases in Pakistan.

But despite these denials, there is no let-up in reports talking about the possibility of having some kind of arrangement between Pakistan and the US. The New York Times this week quoting unnamed officials claiming that the Biden Administration was talking to Pakistan on the issue.