Pakistan fencing Durand Line under Border Management Agreement: Qadir

KABUL taking place under an agreement signed by the government, a claim the Ashraf Ghani-led administration has rejected.

The Durand Line is the 2,430-kilometre hypothetical line between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was established in 1896 between Sir Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat and civil servant of the British Raj, and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan to fix the limit of their respective spheres of influence and improve diplomatic relations and trade.

The line, as slightly modified by the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, was inherited by Pakistanin 1947 following its independence.

The Durand Line cuts through the Pashtun tribal areas and further south through the Balochistan region, geographically dividing ethnic Pashtuns, as well as the Baloch and other ethnic groups, who lived on both sides of the border.

Since months, Pakistan has started fencing the most parts of the Durand Line under its billion Rupees project, the process would complete by next year end.

Lawmaker Haji Zahir Qadir said the recent statement of English ambassador was not irrelevant. The president, he said during his recent trip to United Kingdom (UK) signed an agreement of Boarder Management.

The English Ambassador to Afghanistan Nicholas Peter Kayhas recently told BBC that the international community considered Durand Line as formal boarder between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Qadir claimed the Boarder Management Agreement was signed by President Ashraf Ghani and the then Army Chief Gen. Qadam Shah Shaheem.

He did not expose the names of opposite party but assured to present the related documents and materials on Wednesday.

The lawmaker said government silence over the fencing of Durand Line reflected its consent with and ongoing process.

Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi termed the Durand Line an issue related to the people of Afghanistan and asked the government to declare its stance regarding the ongoing fencing by Pakistanis.

Earlier, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani had said he did not talk to Pakistanis regarding the Durand Line and the issue was above his authority.

The president, however, said every effort and move to split people residing on the both side of the Durand Line will fail.

“Those, who think by fencing they could split nation should reconsider their decision. Shelling and bombardment cannot separate us and fencing would never divide us,” he said.

Dawa Khan Menapal, deputy spokesman of the president, rejected Qadir’s claim and termed it as false and untrue and asked the lawmaker to present documents to support his claim.

Qadir, two years back, claimed that the heads of Daesh militant group was living in Kabul and enjoyed full support of the Kabul government and its National Security Advisor.