Country urged to stand firm amid Trump administration’s efforts to regain control of Bagram site

Afghanistan should stand firm in rebuffing an attempt by the United States to reestablish a military base in the country, analysts said, adding the landlocked nation’s future hinges on preventing fresh instability, maintaining good relations with all countries, and realizing its potential as a hub of Eurasian connectivity.

On Sept 18, during a news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, Trump mentioned Bagram Air Base, saying that the US was “trying to get it back “from Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.

Over the weekend, Trump raised the topic again, saying that “we’re talking now to Afghanistan” about the return of the air base.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump even issued a threat. “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Air Base back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN,” he said.

Afghanistan has rejected the call from Trump, with the chief Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, urging the US to adopt a policy of “realism and rationality”.

Afghanistan had an economy-oriented foreign policy and sought constructive relations with all states based on mutual and shared interests, Mujahid said in a post on the social media platform X on Sept 21.

Earlier, the same day, the chief of staff at Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, Fasihuddin Fitrat, said, “Ceding even an inch of our soil to anyone is out of the question and impossible”, according to a speech broadcast by Afghan media.

Shameem Ahmad Nawber, an Afghan analyst and deputy director at the Institute for Digital Economy and Artificial Systems in Xiamen, in East China’s Fujian province, said that from the standpoint of Afghanistan’s national interest, rejecting any foreign military’s return to the Bagram Air Base is a logical assertion of sovereignty, signaling a necessary shift away from the country’s historical role as a theater for power conflicts.

“Bagram’s immense geopolitical value — offering surveillance and power projection over Central Asia, Russia, Iran, and western China — makes its sovereign control nonnegotiable,” he said.

The last US troops left Afghanistan at the end of August 2021, but the Afghan economy is still feeling the negative effects of Washington’s two-decade-long meddling in the country.

Trump said his administration wants to take back the Bagram Air Base “not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles”.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stated on Sept 19 that China respects Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and that “Afghanistan’s future should rest in the hands of the Afghan people”.

Contact the writer at vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com