Islamabad | WTNS | July 13:Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has reaffirmed Islamabad’s firm opposition to allowing the United States access to its airbases amid the hasty withdrawal of American forces from neighboring Afghanistan.

“Pakistan aspires for peace in Afghanistan,” Rasheed said on Sunday during a press conference held in the major city of Rawalpindi, insisting that the government and opposition parties stood on the same page regarding the issue.

“No superpower can ignore Pakistan, there is no pressure on us,” the minister further emphasized, reiterating that Islamabad would not provide bases to any country for carrying out operations in Afghanistan.

“It is important, not only for Pakistan, but the entire region to initiate talks with the Afghan Taliban,” Rasheed also noted while underlining that his country would accept any government that has the backing of the Afghan people.

Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted earlier this month that Islamabad would never again partner with the US in war, pointing out that his country had also suffered so much as a result of America’s so-called war on terror in Afghanistan.