Pakistan to not allow US bases on its soil after Afghan pullout 1 minute read
Islamabad, May 11 (EFE).- Pakistan said on Tuesday that it will not allow the presence of United States’ military bases or troops on its soil after the US pullout from Afghanistan, set to be completed by Sep. 11, the 20th anniversary of Washington’s invasion of the country.
“We have no intention of allowing foreign troops on ground. No foreign bases will be here in Pakistan,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a press conference in Islamabad.
However, he did reiterate Islamabad’s support for the Afghan peace process.
Re-setting Pak-Saudi relations?
May 11, 2021
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has just returned from a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS). The two countries share a long and historic fraternal relationship. Not least when King Abdullah provided oil to Pakistan for free and on credit to ease the burden of economic sanctions imposed on the country following its nuclear tests in 1998.
However, ties have been strained since 2015, when Pakistan’s Parliament voted to remain neutral in the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Yemen and subsequently refused to send troops into the conflict. Behind-the-scenes, the Saudis took this to mean that Islamabad was siding with Tehran. In reality, Pakistan did not wish to risk tensions with neighbouring Iran.
MAKKAH: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, in Makkah on Sunday.
They discussed developments in the Islamic world, the situation of Muslims in non-OIC countries and issues on the OIC’s agenda, in particular combating Islamophobia, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Al-Othaimeen praised Pakistan’s efforts in presenting the International Day to Combat Islamophobia resolution adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers at its last session in Niger.
He also praised Pakistan’s leading efforts of OIC member states at the UN in New York to present a draft resolution to the next session of the UN General Assembly regarding the adoption of an international day to combat Islamophobia.
Cairo: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have agreed to intensify contacts between government and private sector officials in both allied countries to “elevate their relations to wider prospects,” according to a joint statement marking an official visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to the kingdom.
Khan arrived in the kingdom on Friday on an official visit at an invitation from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had visited Pakistan in 2019.
The Crown Prince and the Pakistani premier this week held talks on ways of boosting relations between the two countries and a range of regional and international issues. “During the talks, they stressed the depth of brotherly, historical relations binding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the joint statement said.