Qureshi rules out providing bases to US Top Story May 26, 2021 ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated in the Senate Tuesday in unequivocal terms that Pakistan would not provide its military bases to the United States for future counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and also not allow drone attacks inside Pakistan. The foreign minister was winding up speech in the House after making a policy statement in response to a debate on ‘Israel’s systematic assault against Palestinian worshippers in Harm-al-Sharif (Masjid Al-Aqsa)'. He also rejected as unfounded the reports of providing the US, bases in Pakistan, making it clear that Prime Minister Imran Khan would never provide its bases to the US, nor would allow drone attacks inside Pakistan. “I want to assure the House that Pakistan is in safe hands,” he remarked. The remarks came after a Pentagon official said that Pakistan had allowed the US military to use its airspace and given ground access so that it could support its presence in Afghanistan. Responding to the concerns of a senator, the foreign minister said, “Because what we were fearing and we still fear and are concerned that a vacuum created in Afghanistan can drag or suck the country back into the decade of 1990s". Qureshi contended that as the US planned to withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11, Pakistan would continue playing its role for advancement of the peace process in that country.