The day Pakistan was hosting the OIC summit to seek international support for Afghanistan, Taliban stopped Pakistani troops from fencing the border at a point on the Durand Line. The incident again sends the message that irrespective of who is in power in Kabul the Afghan leadership would stick to what it considers to be in its national interest irrespective of whether it pleases others or not. Anyone extending a helping hand to the Afghans needs to understand that this would not make them yield on what they consider their vital interests.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have unresolved disputes and there is a dire need to work together to settle them. Some are inherited from the past, others created by each country’s economic or strategic needs. While weak Afghan rulers were forced to cede parts of their territory to the powerful British, this was not accepted by successive generations of the Afghans. The Durand Line too was rejected by Afghan governments. The fencing of the border and refusal to allow Afghanistan to conduct trade with India through Pakistan are more recent issues between the two countries.
Imran Khan was right when he said years ago that the future of long-term relations with landlocked Afghanistan lies in the two countries having “open borders” and “free trade.” But this requires a terrorist-free region and closer economic ties and greater mutual trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In order to move towards the goal there is a need to resolve mutual disputes through dialogue between the two sovereign nations instead of recourse to pressure tactics or unfriendly acts. The Taliban regime needs to realise that it is unrealistic to seek the reversal of border changes effected over a century back. It is in the interest of the two countries to jointly eradicate terrorism from the region after which there would be no need for the fence that divides tribes and families.
Unresolved disputes help terrorist outfits like IS-K and the TTP to flourish in the region. These also provide an opportunity to people like former Afghan President Hamid Karzai to try to create misunderstandings between the Taliban and Pakistan.
