No Shamsi base outsourcing

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan does not intend to renew the contract for leasing out Shamsi base to any foreign country with the administrative control of the facility been assigned to the Ministry of Defence amid the reports that the government was mulling over turning the airfield into a commercial airport, to be run by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The ten-year lease term signed between Pakistan and the US that allowed the latter to acquire complete financial and administrative control of Shamsi airbase would reportedly expire on the coming December 31 this year, according to credible intelligence officials. Pakistan would not renew its contract, on the facility, with the United States nor is the country interested in outsourcing the airfield to any other state including the Emirates, it is learnt. The amount of funds the US was paying to Pakistan for using the base could not be ascertained as yet. Shamsi base was contracted out to the US for military usage on October 20, 2011. The US was asked to vacate the air facility after Pakistan gave it 15-day deadline following Nato attacks on two Pakistan Army posts on November 26 that killed 24 military men. The base evacuation was completed by Sunday evening while Pakistans Defence Ministry formally took control on Monday. On Saturday, the General Manager Public Relations and Spokesperson CAA Pervaiz George, when asked, had expressed ignorance towards any proposed move to make an airport out of Shamsi airbase saying that such decisions were taken at the federal government level. On the other hand, sources in Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the Prime Minister, after consultations with the military establishment, had instructed the Defence Ministry to get a feasibility report prepared by the CAA to evaluate if establishing a commercial airport in a relatively rural district of Washuk was a workable option. Once part of Kharan district in Balochistan province, Washuk, where Shamsi base is located, was declared as a separate district in 2007 but its governance issues are largely managed by Kharans district administration. Despite repeated contacts, MoD Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Farrukh Ahmad, was not available for comments. His Aide-De-Camp (ADC) Lieutenant Ammaad said that the spokesperson did not entertain media queries. Presently, the CAA, a subordinate body to the Ministry of Defence, runs the administrative affairs of 42 airports across Pakistan, of which, eight are international airports located in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, Faisalabad and Gwadar. Deputy Commissioner Kharan Tufail Baloch said Washuk Police, Levies Force and Rangers are deployed at Shamsi airbase on Balochistan governments orders to assist the military and paramilitary troops. Situation is under control but precautionary measures have been taken to avert any untoward incident, he told The Nation on Monday. Contrary to the reports that Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) and other paramilitary forces have taken managerial control of the Shamsi airfield, the intelligence sources contend, the military and related security agencies are deployed for the time being to guard the facility till any long-term role for the airbase is officially envisaged. Security forces are there to guard, not to administer, this scribe was told. Following the evacuation of the airbase from American troops on Sunday evening, the US authorities officially handed over its control to Pakistan that followed the deployment of additional troops from Pakistan Army, FC, Rangers and Levies Force. The FC has 694 platoons deployed in Balochistan. Of them, 31 platoons are deputed collectively in Kalat and Khuzdar and eight of them have been sent to Washuk, assigned to guard Shamsi base.