No US official or lawmaker asked for a military base in Pakistan, confirms Moeed Yusuf.

ISLAMABAD -- No United States official or lawmaker asked for a military base in Pakistan, former National Security Adviser Dr. Moeed Wasim Yusuf has confirmed.

'The word base was not mentioned, not even once, during our talks, except in the media,' Dr. Moeed Wasim Yusuf told US-based Pakistani journalists while summing up his 10-day to Washington last year. "Bases were not discussed at all from either side during this trip because we have already made our position clear. That chapter is closed."

Earlier reports in both US and Pakistani media claimed that the Biden administration was seeking military bases in Pakistan to influence developments in Afghanistan, particularly if the Taliban seized Kabul. At recent congressional hearings, US officials did talk about using Pakistani airspace for reaching Afghanistan and having bases in the region but did not say where.

'If there are tensions between the United States and China, we cannot say that our relations with both will remain seamless,' said Moeed Yusuf while underlining Islamabad's desire to maintain good ties with both.

Recent reports in the US media have suggested that Afghanistan and China are the two main obstacles in rebuilding a close relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

According to these reports, Washington wants Islamabad to use its influence to prevent a Taliban takeover in Kabul. US policy makers also want Pakistan to join a US-led alliance to contain China's growing influence in the region.

Commenting on these speculations, Wasim Yusuf said that Pakistan did not see this as a 'zero-sum game, either with the US or with China.' Pakistan has, and wants to retain, good relations with both, he...

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