last month, Taliban Troops posted along the border in Nangarhar province broke down the fence on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line), and a few days later prevented Pakistani troops from fixing it again.
Here’s a brief rundown on how the Durand Line came to be and why it’s such a contentious issue between the two neighbors:
a brief History
The Durand Line was drawn by the British diplomat Sir Henry Mortimer Durand to protect the interests of the British Empire from Tsarist Russia.
The single-page Durand Line Agreement was signed in November 1893 by the King of Afghanistan, Amir Abdur Rahman, and essentially established Afghanistan as a buffer zone between the two expansionist empires.
Most historians agree that the line was drawn to ensure that strategic areas such as the Khyber Pass remained on the side of the British Empire. Experts also believe that Durand knew little of the ethnicity and geography of the region, and inadvertently divided the traditional Pashtun tribal areas.
Will the Durand Line standoff affect Pakistan’s close ties with the Taliban?
Why Afghanistan opposes the Durand Line
Kabul claims that British India unilaterally imposed the line on Rahman, and divided the families, referring to the Pashtuns – Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group and key to any regime seeking legitimacy.
No Afghan government, including the previous (1995–2001) and current Taliban regimes, has recognized the Durand Line as Kabul’s international border with Pakistan.
When Pakistan was created in 1947 and inherited the Durand Line, Afghanistan questioned the validity of the Durand Line Agreement as it was signed with the British Crown and should have expired at the time of independence.
Even earlier, as the British were preparing to exit India, Afghanistan had stymied the possibility of bringing Pashtun territories back under Afghanistan. The British, however, maintained that the issue could be discussed with the ‘successor authority’, namely Pakistan.
At the time of partition, Pashtun leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also demanded an independent country for Pashtuns called ‘Pashtunistan’.
Afghanistan also voted against Pakistan’s joining the United Nations, arguing that Islamabad should not be recognized until the ‘Pashtunistan’ issue is resolved.
Since then, any attempt by Islamabad to legitimize the line has been quickly shot down by Afghanistan, and since 1947 there have been countless skirmishes in the region.
Just days after the recent tension at the border, zabihullah mujahidiA top Taliban spokesman rejected the fencing and the border itself, claiming that the Durand Line divided Afghanistan. “We don’t want it at all… We want to create a safe and peaceful environment along the border, so there is no need to create any barriers,” he said.
Some scholars also point out that the Durand Line Agreement was never ratified by any legislative body of either party and was therefore legally untenable.
There are economic considerations as well.
The Durand Line keeps the resource-rich province of Balochistan in Pakistan, thereby depriving Kabul of its historical access to the Arabian Sea. The Pashtuns are the second largest ethnic community in the province.
Why does Pakistan want to fence the Durand Line?
During the 2001–21 US war in Afghanistan, Pakistan took two major steps to secure its control over the porous border and surrounding areas.
Pakistan began fencing its border with Afghanistan in late 2014, following cross-border terrorist attacks attributed to terrorist organizations such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a small Pashtun terrorist group sympathetic to the Taliban. Including those who are fighting. For an independent ‘Pashtunistan’.
Second, it merged semi-autonomous tribal districts along the Durand Line into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – Pakistan’s third largest region.
Islamabad says it wants to fence the border to prevent “uncontrolled movement of terrorist elements” and smuggling.
There are also geopolitical reasons.
After East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971, Islamabad has gone crazy for any separatist movement.
To deter any threat from Pashtun nationalism, Islamabad is desperately trying to establish the Durand Line, which divides Pashtuns, as the legitimate international border. It has also built several madrasas in the western regions. These schools emphasize Islam over ethnic identity, which Islamabad hopes will undermine the movement for a unified region for Pashtuns.
Things may soon unfold as Pakistan has directed its National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf to visit Kabul to discuss the Durand Line with the top Taliban leadership.
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