Pak-Afghan relations have never been friendly since the time Pakistan won freedom chiefly because of the stalwart stance of Afghan governments over the Durand line. British Raj before leaving the region conceivably left many conflicts unresolved due to which there sources and energies of South Asian countries are consumed by warmongering mindset and human development becomes an issue for billions of people living in the region. Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Iran, Nepal, and Bangladesh diversified a range of conflicts with neighboring countries including border skirmishes.
Durand Line fiasco is the legacy of the British Raj— a legacy carried by both Pakistan and Afghanistan irrespective of common and shared Islamic civilization. The ground realities keep on changing whereas sane nations keep on moving with a pluralistic and holistic approach. As a matter of fact, all member countries of the UN accept the sovereignty of Pakistan except Afghanistan taking advantage of the controversial Durand line pact signed between the British and the Afghan governments. Principally speaking, a matter of Durand line was between imperial British and Afghans whereas Pakistan got independence following many decades and thus Afghan has no ethical right to assert their claim on any territory after it was annexed to present-day Pakistan shadowing lawful course of action. It was their referendum of the people of the North-Western Frontier Region that they wanted their allegiance with Pakistan and the Afghan government should have honored the will of the people.
The illegitimate demands of different Afghan governments over Durand-line never gained the enormous backing of Afghan people at large as it is widely believed that Afghan governments use this dead issue for political point-scoring at the behest of anti-Pakistan elements. The 20th century has experienced many new border demarcations with the inception of many new countries on the globe and most of the countries have accepted this phenomenon by promoting bilateral relations in exchange for economic advantages. EU and the states emerging after the disintegration of USSR area living example where new emerging countries are amicably coexisting with their past territorial masters. The modern age is of cooperation and constructive adherence where there is little room for conflicts and more concentration is centered on human development. There is no permanent foe or friend in international relations rather mutual relations are built on the economic standoff. The developed nations are exploring new avenues in space and in the arena of artificial intelligence so the developing countries should also follow their footprints to improve the living standards of their people through a proactive approach.
Pakistan is a peace-loving country and always wishes to have friendly relations with its neighboring countries to be at social issues due to the prevailing sense of economic deprivation in the world’s most populous region. It is in the best interest of Afghanistan to forget the past and move forward before it is too late because Afghan people are facing many challenges due to the wrong decision of its elitists. Like the rest of the world, Afghanistan should accept international border with Pakistan as its assertion on Durand Line is nothing but a wild goose chase signifying nothing. Pakistan is rightful in securing its border alongside Afghanistan because it has serious security threats from Afghanistan and more than 90 percent of terrorist infiltrations have been from across the Durand line. The installation of barbed wire alongside the Afghan border was a wise decision of the government of Pakistan to neutralize the safe heavens of the terrorists who use Afghan soil to destabilize Pakistan.
Pakistan has always supported Afghanistan on international platforms and to date is a sanctuary of millions of Afghan refugees. It is the biggest trade partner of Afghanistan in the region and the already crippled economy of Afghanistan can be choked if there is no support from the side of Pakistan. In the present day when Afghanistan has been alienated by the world, Pakistan and its people are standing with its Afghan brothers. Not only the government of Pakistan but also many non-government organizations of Pakistan are sending humanitarian aid to the war-torn and hunger-stricken people of Afghanistan. The new regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan should realize that it is only Pakistan that is still convincing the global community including America on the public-spirited grounds not to leave Afghanistan in the lurch. The Taliban are the key beneficiaries of the outcome of the series of dialogues smoothed by Pakistan and it is nothing but deceitfulness on their part to tarnish Pakistan to camouflage their failure in Afghanistan.
The previous governments in Afghanistan also deviated to heal the wounds of the Afghan citizens by putting the blame of their failure on Pakistan and the Taliban are also following their trails which is not going to help at all. The Afghan chaos can only be appeased if the Afghan leadership forgets the past and give chance to fair play in getting power, maturing fraternity with Pakistan, and concentrating on the economic development of Afghanistan. The Durand Line is a debacle and heavy baggage which cannot be lifted by any Afghan government and the sooner Afghan leadership should apprehend this writing of the wall the better it would be for their generations to come.
