Kabul backs talks on tiff over Durand Line fencing

KABUL (Pajhwok): Issues related to the fencing of the Durand Line will be resolved diplomatically, says the government.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said this a day after the Pakistani foreign minister made a similar statement.

On Monday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi acknowledged there were "some complications" pertaining to the fencing of the Durand Line.

The spat was being discussed with the Taliban government, he said, hoping the matter would be sorted out through diplomatic channels.

On Tuesday, Balkhi tweeted: "Recently, a few incidents have taken place along the Durand Line … giving rise to the need for the authorities of the two sides to address the problem."

Believing in resolving issues through understanding and good neighbourliness, Kabul would address the tiff through diplomatic channels, he wrote.

The Pakistan embassy in Kabul is said to have sought an official response from the Taliban government on the issue.

In recent weeks, videos on social media purportedly showed Taliban fighters uprooting a portion of the fence along the Durand Line.

While Kabul calls the British-era Durand Line an artificial line and opposes the fencing project, Islamabad insists it is a settled issue and a closed chapter.

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