[Current Affairs] 23 June, 2021 Top Pakistan Current Affairs for PPSC Test Preparation

2. PM Khan reiterates supporting peace in Afghanistan, denying US bases in Pakistan

What’s going on? In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan wants to partner with the U.S. to support peace in Afghanistan, but reiterated that Pakistan will not allow the U.S. to set up bases in Pakistan. This comes just days after his wide-ranging Axios interview where he said Pakistan will “absolutely not” allow “any bases” or “any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan.”

The details: Khan’s focal point in the article is that Pakistan and the U.S. have the same interests at hand for Afghanistan — “a political settlement, stability, economic development and the denial of any haven for terrorists” — but without the use of military force. However, he added that Pakistan will work with any government that enjoys the confidence of the Afghan people, and that Afghanistan cannot be “controlled from the outside.”

Tell me more: Khan also stressed the losses Pakistan has endured from the wars in Afghanistan; more than 70,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives, tourism and investment have “dried up” and while the U.S. has provided $20 billion in aid, Pakistan’s economy has suffered losses of more than $150 billion, he argued. More than half the population in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas has been displaced and over 3 million Afghan refugees are still in Pakistan.

The context: Since U.S. President Joe Biden announced in April that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, Pakistan has been involved in the conversation surrounding peace in Afghanistan. Khan argues that Pakistan “would be targeted for revenge by terrorists again” if a civil war started and it agreed to host U.S. bases, which would likely be used to take action in Afghanistan from Pakistani soil. The key point of his piece, however, was this statement: “Meanwhile, if the United States, with the most powerful military machine in history, couldn’t win the war from inside Afghanistan, how would America do it from bases in our country?”

Looking ahead: Khan believes that economic connectivity and regional trade will lead to peace and security in Afghanistan. He stressed that Pakistan is doing “everything … short of military action” to assist Afghanistan, which is why Pakistan jointly signed the “Extended Troika” statement for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan.

The bottom line: Pakistan is ready to work with the U.S. to help Afghanistan gain peace and stability, just not at the expense of hosting U.S. bases. Years worth of history and damage to both Pakistan and Afghanistan are Khan’s main justifications for his reasoning.