Reducing the porosity

Some lazy figures of speech occasionally become set in stone, and in this region the attachment of the word “porous” to any reference to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been the norm. It comes with a degree of implied disapproval, that somehow that “porosity” is the fault of one or other or both parties, and that the Durand Line which has never been accepted by Afghanistan anyway is the root of all evils. An irrefutable fact is that some of the terrain that the border passes through is mountainous in the extreme and a virtual impossibility to fence in any real sense of the word — or even patrol on foot in many instances. Electronic surveillance has improved security in recent years but there are parts of the border that are more accessible and therefore more vulnerable to illegal passage.

The Pakistan Army has in hand a large and largely unreported project — the fencing of 1,268kms of the Pak-Afghan border and on Tuesday May 8^th the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) inaugurated fencing work along the border near Panjpai in Balochistan. A fence is but a part of the story, and 250 Frontier Corps mini-forts — one every 3km giving continuous line-of-sight cover — are to be constructed as well as watchtowers every kilometre. This will make the border at least in theory one of the least porous in the world and Pakistan will have done its duty and beyond in terms of cross-border security in one of the most insecure places in the region.

There are those that have legitimate reasons to move to and fro and their needs are catered to but the hard reality — another hard reality — is that terrorists always find a way and that no matter how many billions of rupees are invested or how much due diligence is exercised it only takes one man — or woman — to make it across laden with explosives and malign intent to bring death and mayhem wherever they want. That said Pakistan is a safer place today as a result of these efforts and a discreet pat on the back is in order.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2018.

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