144

PAK-AFGHAN BORDER: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

AND WAY FORWARD
*
Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

Abstract
Geo-strategically Pakistan and Afghanistan are very important countries in the
region. Afghanistan’s different rulers starting from Amir Abdur Rehman (1880-1901) entered
into various treaties regarding the settlement of boundaries but after the creation of
Pakistan, in 1947, the then Afghan Amir withdrew from the agreement. Whereas Article 62
of the Vienna Convention terms that whenever any of the new country is emerged out of the
colonial territory, all the agreements made during the previous eras will stand intact as
legal. Due to continuous cross-border infiltration and free movement of humans and goods
especially post 9/11, Pakistan felt the need to manage the Pak-Afghan border in accordance
with international standards. This paper will ascertain not only the legality of the Durand
Line but will also highlight why the Pak-Afghan Border Management is important in order
to bring stability in the region and how this management can contribute towards internal
peace and development.

Keywords: Peace, Durand Line, Border Management, War on Terror.

Introduction

D espite the fact that Durand Line is a recognized border between Pakistan and
Afghanistan, the management of the border issue has remained a major source
of conflict between the two countries, since the independence of Pakistan. The
Durand Line was declared as an international border after an MoU was signed
between the then British government representative, Mortimer Durand, and the
Afghan leader Abdur Rahman Khan, in 1893.1 Both countries accepted the Durand
Line, as an international border but soon after the inception of Pakistan, in 1947,
Afghanistan despite being a neighbouring and a Muslim country, refused to
recognize Pakistan as an independent country and also refused to accept the status
of Durand Line. Pakistan, since her independence, initiated different efforts to have
cordial relations with Afghanistan in order to resolve the issues. It also went ahead in

*
Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian is a PhD scholar at Department of Mass Communication, Allama Iqbal Open
University Islamabad, Pakistan. He writes columns with his penname Yousaf Alamgirian. Dr. Saqib Riaz is
Chairman/Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad,
Pakistan

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 145

extending hand of friendship despite Russian aggression. Moreover, Pakistan

welcomed millions of Afghan refugees and offered them shelter, 2 unfortunately these
refugees created a lot many problems such as law and order, Kalashnikov culture,
drug trafficking, street crimes and unemployment of the local population.

Earlier Pakistan had threats on the East from India which has always tried to
be bullish. However, from the Western side, it had no visible threats, but
Afghanistan remained involved in conspiracies aimed at creating unrest along the
borders in collaboration with India and USSR before Soviet aggression in 1979.3
Afghanistan’s intentions have never been good towards Pakistan as, one; it refused to
recognize its independence and, two it showed its dubious intentions regarding the
already resolved issue of Durand Line.

After 9/11 Pakistan was one of those countries, who fought the war against
terror as a front line state and made tangible efforts to eliminate terrorism from the
region. Pakistan had to move its forces to launch operation in its own territory along
the Western border to eliminate foreign elements residing there since the Afghans
struggle against Soviets. They were the ones who fought the Afghan Mujahideen to
repel Soviet aggression on Afghanistan. The United States launched war against the
Taliban and declared Al-Qaeda responsible for the 9/11 incident. American and allied
forces attacked Afghanistan and declared all radicals and extremists living in
Afghanistan and Pakistan as terrorists. The US not only asked the respective
countries to oust the terrorists from their areas but entered its forces into
Afghanistan, threatening Pakistan’s Western borders as well. Pakistan, however, took
a strict stance that there should be no allied forces inside Pakistan borders, and they
must restrict themselves to Afghanistan alone. In response to a story published in
the New York Times that President Bush had ordered unilateral ground assaults
inside Pakistan, the then Pakistan Army Chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said,
"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all costs
and no external force will be allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan.” 4 The
allied forces, however, acknowledged the Durand Line as the international border
and restricted themselves to Afghanistan only. Now, when Pakistan was fighting
terrorism and faced attacks from across the border, it had to man the check-posts at
different places and had asked Afghanistan to ensure its citizens to travel only on
legal travel documents.5 So once again, Afghanistan raised its voice over the Durand
Line only to undermine Pakistan’s efforts for its border management.

Historical Background of Durand Line

In the late 1880s, the then ruler of Afghanistan was desperate to have
negotiations with the British government of the subcontinent to settle the border

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146 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

issues, whereas, the British government was not in hurry to resolve the matter on an
urgent basis. The British nominated Lord Roberts as delegation head to visit
Afghanistan, in order to settle the issue but the Afghan authorities did not welcome
Roberts, because he was the one who led the British forces against Afghanistan
during the second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878-80. He was well aware of Afghan
terrain as well as the psyche of Afghan rulers and masses. On the other hand, the
Amir thought that Roberts would be a challenging person to handle and “might be
difficult to negotiate with.”6

The British government condemned the Amir’s refusal to accept the mission
and termed it an undiplomatic move by the Afghans. After that, the Afghan Amir
immediately gave his consent to have talks with the next mission to be detailed by
the British government. But he successfully delayed until the time Lord Robert got
retired and went back to Britain. However, Lord Lansdowne, the Viceroy of British in
India, nominated, foreign secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand as head of the British
mission to Afghanistan to provide a map, which would define the boundary between
Afghanistan and British India.7

The mission led by Mortimer Durand reached Afghanistan on October 2,

1893. The final agreement was signed on November 12, 1893, known as Durand Line
Agreement. 8 After, the death of Amir Abdur Rehman in 1901, his son Amir
Habibullah Khan became the ruler of Afghanistan. He revisited the border pact and
signed an agreement with the British government in 1905. Amir Habibullah died in
1919. His brother Nasrullah Khan succeeded him but was ousted within seven days of
his taking over. Habibullah’s son Amanullah Khan became the next Amir of
Afghanistan. However, seeing that the British were exhausted due to the World War-
1, the Afghan Amir started a confrontation with the British who despite troubles
blocked those moves. The third Anglo-Afghan war was fought in May 1919, within a
month the Afghan Amir had to go for the ceasefire as he realized that he had invited
a monster for his state. At that time, he emphasized the need for a peace dialogue.
As a result, a Treaty of Peace was signed on August 8, 1919, at Rawalpindi.9The
Afghan delegation headed by Ali Ahmed Khan, while A.H Grant of the British
government headed his delegation. The significance of the treaty of peace was that
both the governments agreed and accepted to follow the previously accepted
boundary by the late Amir Habibullah.10

However, the British alone had to work for implementation of the peace
treaty and no support was provided by the Afghan government. Instead Afghans
created unrest from time to time. To settle certain pending issues, the British and
Afghan governments went for Kabul Treaty that was signed in 1921. In meetings
afterward till 1947 the border treaty remained in force till the time of emergence of

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 147

Pakistan on the world map. Pakistan became an independent state with its already
demarcated Eastern, Western and other borders. Due to the enforcement of Article
62 of the Vienna Convention11 that whenever any of the new country is emerged out
of the colonial territory all the agreements inked in the era of previous rulers of the
region will stand intact and legal. The Durand Line was considered an international
border by all means.

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in its meeting held in

Karachi capital of Pakistan in March 1956 stated,

“The members of the Council declared that their governments recognized

that the sovereignty of Pakistan extends up to the Durand Line, the
international boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it was
consequently affirmed that the Treaty area referred to in Articles IV and
12
VIII of the Treaty includes the area up to that Line.”

Mazher and Goraya in their research paper published in South Asian Studies
Journal narrated,13

“The Durand Line became a source of attention during the Soviet

invasion in Afghanistan. The use of force and border clashes in 2003 led
to the causalities of many soldiers on both sides of the border. For the
first time in history, Pakistan has brought and gathered its 80,000
troops on the Pak-Afghan border, in order to show that its territory shall
not be used for violent activities and extremism. But this decision has
raised a great deal of reactions.”

Beginning of Controversy
 Afghan U-Turn in 1947: Pakistan gracefully honoured all the
previously signed and accepted territorial border pacts and showed its
resolve to manage its borders with full force and deterrence. But the
Afghan Amir Zahir Shah, in his effort to appease India, refused to
accept the border treaty signed in 1893 between the British government
and Afghanistan. Moreover, likeminded Jirga announced the
independence of the tribal areas of Pakistan while sitting in
Afghanistan, knowing well that tribal had already joined hands with the
founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah and expressed their full
support to him. Jinnah himself visited tribal areas, met the upright
tribal elders who firmly voted to remain with Pakistan. However, Mr.
Jinnah decided to keep tribal areas with Pakistan according to their
own culture, traditions and norms. In short tribal areas on Pakistan
sides were always dealt by Pakistan. “The people of FATA have
representation in the national assembly. The area is largely ruled from

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148 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

Peshawar, where the governor of NWFP, a presidential appointee,

exercises enormous authority.”14
 Afghanistan, however, kept on interfering rhetorically, physically and
diplomatically but Pakistan tackled the confrontation very soberly and
firmly to the extent that during the war on terror, it started fencing its
borders with Afghanistan, which were a continuous source of
interference, infiltration and cross-border terrorist attacks from
Afghanistan side. Pakistan has gone all-out for Pak-Afghan border
management in order to ensure peace in both the countries as well as in
the region. Barfield and Hawthorne 15 in their paper narrates that
“Afghan Amirs often portrayed themselves as the historic leaders of all
Pashtuns even when they did not rule over them.” In others words
Afghan Amirs were not having any clout over them and no influence
was taken by the tribal on Pakistan’s side. Before the emergence of
Pakistan, when so ever Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan
visited Western belt tribal areas, the local tribes never invited the
Afghan Amir to be part of the talks. Later the local tribes went for the
referendum and voted to remain with Pakistan as citizens of the
country.
 Indian Propaganda: Unfortunately, India has remained busy in
conspiracies since her independence.16 It not only managed to make
changes in the partition plan with the help of British representatives
but also created hurdles for the newly established state of Pakistan and
supported Afghanistan in terms of finances and diplomatic ties in order
to create unrest in Pakistan and on its borders. Durand Line is one such
example. Indian researchers, academicians and analysts always carried
the state policy on Durand Line. An Indian researcher Arka Biswas in
his paper “Durand Line: History, Legality & Future” narrates “Thus both
the 1893 and 1905 treaties were personal in nature.”17 In fact the treaties
were signed between the delegations appointed by both sides of the
governments. So, any treaty signed between official and state-appointed
delegations can never be treated as private or so. In “Obama’s Wars”
Pakistan’s concern has been expressed in a way that it shows the gravity
of the issue, which Pakistan is having regarding Indian involvement in
Pakistan in order to destabilize the country.18 It says “there also was a
concern that India funded separatist movements in various regions of
Pakistan, most notably among the natives of Baluchistan”.19
 US Stance: The United States remained impartial on the issue,
however, it always insisted that both sides should honor the border.
The US, being one of the more stakeholders due to its global and

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 149

regional designs always accepted the Durand Line as an international

border. When the Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979, no one
termed it as an attack on Pakistan, because the Russian forces entered
on the other side of the Durand Line which was and is Afghanistan.
However, Pakistan and the US joined hands to oust Russian forces from
Afghanistan. Years after when 9/11 occurred and the US entered
Afghanistan and Pakistan became its ally even then it didn’t allow the
American boots on its part of the land. Hence, the American forces
were remained restricted to Afghanistan’s side, accepting the Durand
Line as an international border. “The international communities,
including the US, the UK, China and other nations and international
organizations have always backed the legal position of Pakistan”. 20Even
America after 9/11 having all the moral and legal support remained
indecisive about operating inside Pakistan. Bob Woodward in his book,
articulates,21

“The real issue was whether U.S soldiers could conduct operations
on the ground in Pakistan. That had traditionally been the red
line, but it was the crux of the problem that had to be solved.”

 On the other hand, Barfield and Hawthorne22 were ironically promoting

the concept of open borders by saying “Any eventual agreement must
respect the long tradition of unhindered cross-border movement by
residents of the area that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan has the
ability to halt.” Unfortunately, this porous border had been a major
cause of deterioration of the overall peace situation of the region.

Border Management
Pakistan and Afghanistan share 2,430 km23 long international border. Due to
its porous nature, this border is a continuous threat for the regional and global
peace. Pakistan has number of times, asked the international powers and the Afghan
governments to step forward to seal this border, but in vain. So, Pakistan started
fencing its side of the border in order to stop infiltration from the other side. On
June 14, 2016, when the construction of Torkham Gate was in process Afghan security
forces opened fire on the Pakistani officials. Resultantly, a Pakistan Army major was
martyred. Pakistan, however, is committed to complete the fencing process at all
costs. That’s why the Pak-Afghan border management remains a hot issue in both
regional and international media.

United States Institute of Peace’s special report 24 however says that

“Afghanistan, Pakistan and the neighboring regions would all benefit from a

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150 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

recognized open border between the two countries”. The situation is the other way
round. Because of the porous nature and open border drug trafficking, smuggling,
arms trading and above all free movement of the terrorists from one side to the other
has thrown the region into the worst danger of its kind. Both countries face suicidal
& terrorist attacks and continue to bleed and suffer. Although its gravity has been
rather less in Pakistan and increased in Afghanistan where allied forces and Afghan
national army failed to adopt a comprehensive and well-composed strategy against
terrorism, manning their side of the border. In fact, the Pak-Afghan border
management is the only solution that can bring peace in the region.

If, ever there was any negative effect of the porous border that was on
Pakistan and its Western areas bordering Afghanistan. Magnus and Benjamin in
their book “Fragments of the Afghan Frontiers” narrated that;25

“Because of the unrest and fragmentation in Afghanistan and break-up

of the Soviet Union brought major risks to neighbouring countries,
“Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province today known as Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa, has been profoundly affected by political instability,
military conflict and disappointment over the past three decades”.

Now, when most of the NATO and American forces have left and fewer
foreign troops are there in Afghanistan, the issue of border management has
resurfaced badly as Afghan forces are not interested or they are incapable of stopping
infiltration. Hence the terrorists are staging attacks in Pakistan from base on Afghan
soil. Even after the attacks of Army Public School Peshawar, Lahore Chairing Cross
blast and Sehwan Sharif attack, 26 terrorists in Afghanistan had claimed the
responsibility of these attacks. Pakistan showed resolve to barb its borders with
Afghanistan at any cost not only to stop the cross-border attacks by the Afghan
militants but will also help the region in controlling drug trafficking and smuggling
from the other side of border.

How this cross-border infiltration damages the peace and brings instability,
was analyzed by Bob Woodward in his book “Obama’s Wars”, 27 “Extremists based in
Pakistan were undermining the Afghan government and in the self-destructive cycle,
Afghanistan’s insecurity fed Pakistan’s instability.” 28 This has been happening
because of the poor management of the borders. Afghanistan has always been least
pushed regarding the issue and America was worried much about the internal
situation of Afghanistan, instead of looking into border management affairs.
Pakistan was left with no choice to work on managing the borders as much as it
could. Pakistan’s move to manage its borders is not going to benefit the whole region
but is very much in line with the desire of the international community. “Pakistan
needs assurance from Afghanistan that it will not add to Pakistan’s security problems

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 151

(particularly Afghanistan’s relations with India). Afghanistan needs free access to

ports, narrates the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies. 29 Obviously, free
access for Afghanistan to Pakistani ports like Karachi and now Gwadar is only
possible when Afghanistan pledges honour to the borders between both the
countries and its citizens to travel on proper documents like visa and travel to
Pakistan through the certified routes after thorough checking by the Pakistani
officials deputed there at border-crossing points.

Due to the continuous wars and fighting among different groups inside
Afghanistan and especially when the war on terror was fought on both sides of the
border, the flow of refugees has increased manifold. Magnus & Benjamin in
“Fragments of the Afghanistan Frontier” narrate that “the flow of refugees fleeing
from or returning to Afghanistan, heroin trafficking, and the violence of continual
conflicts along the frontier adds to the sense of this as a place of instability and
chaos.”30 That shows how borders of porous nature are harmful for the societies and
bring disorder in the longer run.

Way Forward
The international community hasn’t been that effective in helping Pakistan
and Afghanistan to improve their bilateral relations, which have become worse after
the incident of 9/11 and its consequence of war on terrorism in Afghanistan. The war
resulted in instability, destruction, unrest and mistrust in the region. Peace has
deteriorated. The economy sector has greatly deteriorated. In such an environment,
the feasible situation left for both the countries is to look for the opportunities to
improve bilateral relations.

Afghanistan needs to understand that days have ended when it had open
borders with Pakistan and there was a free movement on both sides. It was for
peacetime atmosphere. But after the war on terrorism being fought for the last
seventeen years in the region, it is not feasible and possible for any independent
state to have open borders with a war-torn neighbour. Afghanistan must support
Pakistan’s resolve to organize and manage the two countries, borders on modern
lines. Movement of the citizens from both sides must be predicate on proper visa
documents and adopting procedures of international standards. To have cordial
relations with some countries, it is not necessary to have open borders. Good
relations should be based on honouring rules and conditions of the land.

Despite skirmishes between Afghanistan and Pakistan for the last few years,
there is a way forward, but there must be a desire from both sides to establish cordial
relations. It seems that both countries have felt the need to revive good relations as

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152 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

during the past two years not on the state level, but people-to-people interaction
also flourished. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani was among the heads of the
states that first phoned and congratulated Imran Khan on his party’s victory in the
election. He expressed his well wishes. Afghan diplomats also met Imran Khan and
discussed matters of mutual interest. On assuming the office of Prime Minister,
Imran Khan expressed the need for better relations with Afghanistan. Minister of
Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, after taking charge of the ministry had his
first-ever visit to Afghanistan showing how Afghanistan, was important for bringing
peace in the region and Afghanistan carries significance in Pakistan’s relations with
other countries.

In November 2018 Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the forward posts of
North Waziristan along with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. He was
briefed about the ongoing developments regarding Pak-Afghan border management.
The Prime Minister appreciated the resolve and emphasized that the measures be
taken to bring peace in the region. He hoped for peace beyond borders, especially in
Afghanistan. He rightly said so that “peace in Afghanistan doesn’t mean peace in
Afghanistan only it is the peace in region and peace in Pakistan specifically”. 31 On the
other hand, the Afghan situation has not remained an issue of the United States
alone. Its spectrum has broadened due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor in
the region. Russia is also a stakeholder. Central Asian States have their own interest.
Hence, America will not be the only stakeholder to decide the fate of Afghanistan.

Pakistan has however been trying to play its role in mediation conducting
talks with Afghan Taliban at Murree32, in 2016. The news of the death of Mullah
Umar was leaked by the segments unhappy with Pakistan’s resolve to facilitate talks
with the Taliban and to bring a viable solution of the Afghan crisis. The then
president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai disclosed that on many occasions when he
wanted to have talks with the Afghan Taliban, he was pressured by America not to
engage in the talks.

The World needs to understand that Pakistan is the most important

stakeholder in terms of peace in Afghanistan. If blame games are played in order to
suppress Pakistan and keep it under pressure, it may not be able to play its role
efficiently. The United States has also understood to some extent that its policy to
Pakistan with threats is not going to work. America’s strategy in Afghanistan hasn’t
been that successful and desired objectives haven’t been achieved. The do-more
mantra is also not viable in the changing scenario. It seems America has also felt the
paradigm shift in the South Asian region. For example, President Trump wrote in
December 2018 to Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to play it role in resolving
the Afghan crisis. Imran Khan says, “instead of ‘do more’ US wants Pakistan’s

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 153

cooperation in Afghanistan; Pakistan will play the mediatory role instead of fighting
someone else’s war.”33

Pakistan is also aware of the fact that until the time peace does not return to
Afghanistan there will be no peace in Pakistan and the region. That’s why Pakistan
has always been on the forefront to be part of the moves to bring peace in
Afghanistan. In October 2018 a peace conference was held in Moscow, Russia, and
about 10 countries attended it. Ironically America didn’t attend the conference. On
the other hand, Afghan Taliban are also reluctant to engage in talks with the Afghan
government declaring it useless to hold talks with a weak government. Taliban have
always insisted to have talks not less than with the United States, as decision power
rests with the US and not with the Afghan government. The Taliban’s other
condition is that they will be engaged in talks only when United States will decide to
leave Afghanistan. The US president’s special correspondent Zalmey Khalilzad has
made many visits to Afghanistan in this regard. He visited Pakistan in November
2018 and met the high officials of Pakistan and met Prime Minister as well and
presented him letter of President Trump.

Despite the difficult situation, Pakistan is however facilitating US in

bringing the Taliban on table. One such meeting was held in 0ct 2019 where
Khalilzad met the Afghan Taliban in Islamabad. DW reports “US special envoy
Khalilzad has met with Taliban negotiators in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, a
Taliban official said on Saturday on condition of anonymity. It is the first time such a
meeting, said to have taken place on Friday, has occurred since US President Donald
Trump described a seemingly imminent peace deal to end Afghanistan's 18-year
conflict as "dead" a month ago”.34

As for as the new developments on Pak-Afghan border management are

concerned, Director General ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor keeps on updating the
media/ masses regarding the development undertaken. In his tweet, he informed
that “The fencing of Pak-Afghan border would be completed by December 2019. He
said the work on forts and fence continued on Pak-Afghan border as 233 of 843 forts
and fencing of 802 out of 1,200 kilometers priority one area had been completed.” 35
Priority one areas are Bajur, Mohmand and Khyber and the total length of the area is
100 km.36

Pakistan has however been doing its part of the job to ensure proper fencing
on Pakistan Afghanistan border. A story published in the Express Tribune 37 narrates
“The Pakistan Army has completed the fencing of the first 482 km long patch of the
1,403km long Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The fence is
provided with security cameras and motion detectors. A delegation of journalists

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154 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

visited the Pakistan-Afghanistan Torkham border in the K-P’s Khyber district where
security authorities gave them a detailed briefing on border management. They said
in 2017, the Pakistan Army in the first phase started working on 482 km long patch
along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Work on this patch has now completed well
before time bringing about a visible decline in terrorism and smuggling. Equipped
with water, solar electricity and protection mines, 233 forts have also been
constructed on the 1,403 km long border. To link these forts, safe tracks are also
being constructed. From the Torkham border crossing, around 1,200 trucks and
10,000 people enter and exit Pakistan but now no one gets permission to enter
Pakistan without proper documents. Special cards have been given to 200 Afghan
students who live in Afghanistan but study in Pakistan. Emergency patients also get
permission to enter Pakistan without documents. They said as a goodwill gesture;
the Afghan check posts near the border are provided water by Pakistan. However,
the decision to fence the border has not gone down well with the Afghan
government. According to authorities, daily two to three attempts are made to
disrupt the fence building and to cross the border into Pakistan. Till now 1,900
Afghans have been arrested and deported. The security forces killed three terrorists
and handed over their bodies to Afghan officials. Authorities said 539 km long route,
a major part of which has already been fenced, was the easiest route to enter
Pakistan”.

Conclusion
Pakistan has faced more than 70 thousand casualties of its citizens during
more than decade-long war on terror. It has encountered hundreds of terrorist and
suicidal attacks. Most of the incidents originated from other side of the border i.e.
Afghanistan. So, it was the foremost responsibility of the state of Pakistan that it
should seal and manage its 2,430 km-long international border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan as a state and its institutions like the Pakistan Army are very sensitive
regarding the management of Pakistan’s borders. In order to secure the Pak-Afghan
border, Pakistan has already started fencing the borders. “In the first phase high
infiltration prone borders are being fenced and in second phase fencing of remaining
border areas including Balochistan will be executed. Besides fencing, The Pakistan
Army and Frontier Constabulary are constructing new forts/border posts to improve
surveillance.” 38 Moreover, Afghanistan has never been supportive to the border
management measures taken by Pakistan to resolve this issue once for all. Although
it is difficult, still Pakistan alone is attempting to manage this border by establishing
new check posts’ fencing the border and digging trenches at required points of the
border. The world needs to realize that the porous border is not only a threat to
world peace, but also it is one of the causes of drug trafficking, human and goods

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Pak-Afghan Border: Historical Perspective and Way Forward 155

smuggling along with other crimes, so Pakistan’s efforts are needed to be supported
in true spirit”.39

The fence would be a major factor in checking free and unrestricted

movement of terrorists. The fence will settle the Durand Line controversy forever. It
is now a permanent demarcation line and the border between the two countries.
This will formalize trade and other exchanges between the two countries. This is
going to save the world from drugs because the free flow of narcotics will be stopped.
This will also stop smuggling of items from the international market through
Afghanistan and will minimize the chances of human trafficking from both sides.
The fencing and management of Pak-Afghan borders will also help American and
other foreign forces deployed in Afghanistan to exit safely. And the world could see
new rays of peace in this region, which will not only contribute to regional stability
but will help in subsidizing international peace, harmony and development.

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156 Muhammad Yousaf Alamgirian and Dr. Saqib Riaz

NOTES
1
Mehdani Miloud, “British Interventions in Afghanistan and the Afghans’ Struggle to Achieve Independence
(1838-1921)” (University of Oran 2, 2015).
2
Amina Khan, “Protracted Afghan Refugee Situation: Policy Options for Pakistan,” Strategic Studies Journal 37,
no. 1 (2017).
3
Juma Khan Sufi, “Faraib e Natamam (Urdu Book),” Library of Urdu Books, accessed December 15, 2019,
https://urdu.paknovels.com/2019/03/faraib-e-natamam-by-juma-khan-sufi-urdu.html.
4
Greg Bruno and Jayshree Bajoria, “U.S-Pakistan Military Cooperation,” Council on Foreign Relations, June 26,
2008, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-pakistan-military-cooperation.
5
Shakeel Qarar, “No More Visa on Arrival for Afghan Nationals as per New Rules,” DAWN, January 3, 2019,
https://www.dawn.com/news/1455254.
6
Arka Biswas, “Durand Line: History, Legality & Future” (Vivekananda International Foundation, September
2013).
7
Biswas, 7.
8
Sultan I. Rome, “The Durand Line Agreement (1893): Its Pros and Cons” XXXXI, no. 1 (2004): 16.
9
I. Rome, 6.
10
I. Rome, 11.
11
“Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties” (UN Treaties Series, January 27, 1980),
https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%201155/volume-1155-i-18232-english.pdf.
12
Muhammad Qaiser Janjua, “In the Shadow of the Durand Line: Security, Stability, and the Future of Pakistan
and Afghanistan” (Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, 2009),
http://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA501684.
13
Muhammad Saleem Mazhar and Naheed S. Goraya, “Border Issue between Pakistan & Afghanistan,” Journal of
South Asian Studies 24, no. 2 (2009): 204–20.
14
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