Durand line
The
Durand Line is a term for the poorly marked 2,640
kilometer (1,610
mile)
border between
Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
After being defeated in two wars against Afghans, the
British succeeded in
1893 in imposing the Durand Line dividing
Afghanistan and what was then
British India (now the
North-West Frontier Province,
Federally Administered Tribal Areas and
Balochistan areas of
Pakistan). Named for Sir
Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of the British Indian government, it was agreed upon by representatives of both Afghanistan and the British Empire, but deeply resented by the Afghan Emir
Abdur Rahman Khan. One of the two representatives of the
Afghan government was the
Ahmadi Sahibzada Abdul Latif of
Khost. The border was drawn intentionally to cut through the
Afghan tribes whom the British feared and may have tried to disunite.
Afghanistan's
loya jirga of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid as they saw it as
ex parte on their side (since British India ceased to exist in 1947 with the independence of
Pakistan. This had no tangible effect as there has never been a move to enforce such a declaration. Additionally, world courts have universally upheld
uti possidetis juris, i.e, binding bilateral agreements with or between colonial powers are "passed down" to successor independent states, as with most of Africa. A unilateral declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally. Thus, the Durand Line boundary remains in effect today as the international boundary and is recognized as such by nearly all nations. Despite pervasive internet rumors to the contrary, U.S. Dept. of State and the British Foreign Commonwealth Office documents and spokespersons have recently confirmed that the Durand Line, like virtually all international boundaries, has no expiration date, nor is there any mention of such in any Durand Line documents. (The 1921 treaty expiration refers only to the 1921 agreements.)
Today, the line is often referred to as one drawn on water, symbolizing the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nevertheless, excluding the desert portion southwest of 66 degrees 15 minutes east longitude, 84% of the line follows clear physical features (rivers or watershed divides). The precise route of the remaining 16% straight line segments is also quite clearly demarcated from the 1894-95 demarcation reports and subsequent mapping, so the legal location of the line is not in doubt and is quite accurate on readily available mapping such as the detailed (1:50,000 scale) Russian maps of the 1980s.
The line has come under special attention of late, as the area has become notorious for
Taliban fighters freely traveling back and forth, finding safety and shelter in the
autonomous Pashtun regions of northwestern Pakistan.
The September 2005 statements by the Pakistan's President
Pervez Musharraf calling for the building of a fence delineating the Afghanistan/Pakistan border have been met with opposition from
Pashtuns political groups and
Afghanis who view the border as illegitimate.
The Durand Line continues to be a source of tension between
Afghanistan and
Pakistan due to the Afghan belief that the people of the Pakistani provinces of
NWFP,
Balochistan and
FATA want to separate from Pakistan and are the property of Afghans. This belief is viewed as in insult to Pakhtuns and Baloch living in Pakistani provincies who view themselves as Pakistani nationals and who view the land as their property. Pakistanis view Afghan complaints about Durand Line as a nuisance that has no resonance in Pakistani areas.
*
Large Map of the Durand Line*
Text of the Treaty Creating the Durand Line*
Links collection for images of the border*
Sahibzada Abdul Latif of Khost
