The realities of today

Pakistan was still a part of India when the Durand Line was drawn in 1893, and it was the subject of controversy then and it remains so today. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan may want for differing or contiguous reasons to see the line redrawn to reflect modern realities, but the reality that is inescapable is that it is an officially-recognised international border, and the likelihood of that changing in the foreseeable future is remote to say the least. Pakistan has a significant security problem linked to the fact that the border between it and Afghanistan is largely unregulated and poorly policed or monitored. It is 2,430km (1,510 miles) long and wide open for much of that. The Torkham crossing, currently the focus of tension and military action by both sides, is the busiest point of transit. Until June 1 this year, Afghans were allowed to pass without any form of paperwork but Pakistan decided to change that and trouble has ensued.

There can be no half measures in this matter. A border is either regulated or it is not. Nation-states everywhere have some sort of basic identity check — less so within the states of the European Union — and paperless transit rights are virtually unheard of elsewhere in the world. Afghanistan may plead ‘special case’ on the basis of an inconvenient and manifestly unfair historical decision; but the security imperatives of Pakistan have to override that. Now Kabul has declined the invitation to send its national security adviser and foreign minister to Pakistan for talks aimed at a resolution of the current conflict, instead opting for lower-grade representation, which may be interpreted as acting with something less than sincerity regarding negotiations.



The gate that Pakistan is constructing is 37 metres inside its own territory. It ought to be completed and other gates built at other choke points along the line in order to better regulate the flow. Afghanistan itself appears to have little interest — or perhaps limited capacity — when it comes to regulation on its own side of the border, but it cannot fall back on the crutch of history with terrorists wandering back and forth at will. While it is important that the two governments attempt to reach consensus on this issue to avoid conflict, Pakistan remains well within its rights to build the gates.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2016.

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