Editing Durand Line (section)

{{Short description|International border between Afghanistan and Pakistan}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox border
 | name              = Durand Line
 | image             = File:Afghanistan-Pakistan border.png
 | caption           = Map marking the Durand Line border in red
 | territory1        = {{AFG}}
 | territory2        = {{PAK}}
 | length            = {{cvt|2640|km}}
 | enclaves          =
 | established       = 12 November 1893
 | establishedreason = Signing of the Durand Line Agreement at the end of the first phase of the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
 | current           = 8 August 1919
 | currentreason     = [[Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919]] ratified at the end of the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]
 | disestablished    =
 | treaties          = [[Treaty of Gandamak]], Durand Line Agreement, [[Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919|Treaty of Rawalpindi]]
 | notes             =
}}
The '''Durand Line''' ({{langx|ps|د ډیورنډ کرښه}}; {{langx|ur|{{nq|ڈیورنڈ لکیر}}}}; {{langx|prs|خط دیورند}}), also known as the '''Afghanistan–Pakistan border''', is a {{convert|2640|km|adj=on}} [[international border]] between [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]] in [[South Asia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pakistan|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|publisher=CIA World Factbook|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110014011/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Efn|India also claims to have a border with Afghanistan on the eastern part of the Durand Line due to its claim on [[Kashmir]]. (See [[Borders of India#Land borders of India]].)}} The western end runs to the border with [[Iran]] and the eastern end to the border with [[China]].

The Durand Line was established in 1893 as the international border between the [[Emirate of Afghanistan]] and the [[British Indian Empire]] by [[Mortimer Durand]], a British diplomat of the [[Indian Civil Service]], and [[Abdur Rahman Khan]], the [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|Emir of Afghanistan]], to fix the limit of their respective [[Sphere of influence|spheres of influence]] and improve diplomatic relations and trade. Britain considered Afghanistan to be an independent state at the time, although they controlled its [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan)|foreign affairs]] and [[Foreign relations of Afghanistan|diplomatic relations]].

The single-page Agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise [[Interventionism (politics)|interference]] beyond the Durand Line.<ref name="LoC-Smith">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html|title=A Selection of Historical Maps of Afghanistan – The Durand Line|publisher=Library of Congress|location=United States|first=Cynthia|last=Smith|date=August 2004|access-date=11 February 2011|archive-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109025224/http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> A joint British-Afghan [[Demarcation line|demarcation]] survey took place starting from 1894, covering some {{Convert|800|mi|}} of the border.<ref>"The total length of the boundary which had been delimited and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles". The long stretch from the [[Kabul River]] to China, including the [[Wakhan Corridor]], was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the [[Khyber Pass]], which was finally demarcated in 1921: {{cite web
|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofafghani031122mbp/historyofafghani031122mbp_djvu.txt|title=A History of Afghanistan Vol. II|author=Brig.-Gen. Sir [[Percy Sykes]], K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society|publisher=MacMillan & Co.|year=1940|location=London|pages=182–188, 200–208|access-date=5 December 2009}}</ref><ref name=Hay>An adjustment to the demarcation was made at [[Arundu]] in the early 1930s: {{cite journal|last=Hay|first=Maj. W. R.|title=Demarcation of the Indo-Afghan Boundary in the Vicinity of Arandu|journal=Geographical Journal|volume=LXXXII|issue=4|date=October 1933|pages=351–354 |doi=10.2307/1785903 |jstor=1785903 |bibcode=1933GeogJ..82..351H }}</ref> Established towards the end of the British–Russian "[[Great Game]]" rivalry, the resulting line established Afghanistan as a [[buffer zone]] between British and Russian interests in the region.<ref>{{cite book|title=Battleground: Government and Politics, Volume 1|first=Kathleen|last=Uradnik|page=18|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011|isbn=978-0313343131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uarFTBpg11wC&pg=PA18|access-date=31 August 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131806/https://books.google.com/books?id=uarFTBpg11wC&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref> The line, as slightly modified by the [[Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919]], was inherited by Pakistan in 1947, following its independence.

The Durand line cuts through to demarcate [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], and the contested region of [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] of northern and western Pakistan from the northeastern and southern [[provinces of Afghanistan]]. From a [[geopolitical]] and [[geostrategic]] perspective, it has been described as one of the most dangerous borders in the world.<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/1 |title=No Man's Land |quote=Where the imperialists' Great Game once unfolded, tribal allegiances have made for a "soft border" between Afghanistan and Pakistan—and a safe haven for smugglers, militants and terrorists |work=[[Newsweek]]|location=United States |date=1 February 2004|accessdate=11 February 2011|archive-date=8 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408113251/http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |title=The Troubled Afghan-Pakistani Border |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |date=20 March 2009 |accessdate=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525182142/http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |archive-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref name="DN">{{cite web |url=http://archives.dawn.com/2005/09/07/top16.htm |title=Japanese nationals not killed in Pakistan: FO |work=[[Dawn News]] |location=Pakistan |date=7 September 2005 |accessdate=11 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,3|title=The World's Most Dangerous Borders: Afghanistan and Pakistan|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=24 June 2011|accessdate=12 September 2012|first=Philip|last=Walker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231073015/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,3|archive-date=31 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although the Durand Line is internationally recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains unrecognized in Afghanistan.<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line">{{cite news|title=No change in stance on Durand Line: Faizi|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/10/24/no-change-stance-durand-line-faizi|date=24 October 2012|access-date=11 April 2013|publisher=Pajhwok Afghan News|quote=But Afghanistan has never accepted the legitimacy of this border, arguing that it was intended to demarcate spheres of influence rather than international frontiers.|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510142126/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/10/24/no-change-stance-durand-line-faizi |archive-date=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="FG">{{cite web|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf|title=Carnegie Papers – Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era|first=Frédéric|last=Grare|date=October 2006|access-date=11 February 2011|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808152815/http://carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/02/why-the-durand-line-matters/|title=Why the Durand Line Matters|last=Rahi|first=Arwin|publisher=The Diplomat|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729145657/https://thediplomat.com/2014/02/why-the-durand-line-matters/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/afghanistan-and-pakistan_b_8590918.html|title=Afghanistan and Pakistan: The Poisoned Legacy of the Durand Line|last=Micallef|first=Joseph V.|date=21 November 2015|newspaper=Huffington Post|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024102621/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/afghanistan-and-pakistan_b_8590918.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tDes7XwARMC&q=duran+line+international+recognition&pg=PT358|title=Afghanistan from the Cold War through the War on Terror |last=Rubin|first=Barnett R.|date= 2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199970414|access-date=24 October 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131806/https://books.google.com/books?id=7tDes7XwARMC&q=duran+line+international+recognition&pg=PT358|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Daoud Khan|Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan]], former prime minister and president of Afghanistan, vigorously opposed the border and launched a propaganda war. However, Bhutto made a proposal in August 1976 that if Bhutto pardons the leaders of the [[National Awami Party]] then [[Daoud Khan]] must simultaneously announce that [[Afghanistan]] has no territorial claims on [[Pakistan]] and is prepared to recognise the Durand Line. Bhutto, however, also disclosed to American diplomats that he feared that the Afghans may go back on their word.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976STATE169397_b.html |title=Naim's Visit to Washington |date=1976-07-08 |publisher=Department of State |issue=1976STATE169397_b}}</ref> Following the second round of talks, Daoud publicly announced his willingness to recognise the border as part of the Afghan concession, however, the following negotiations were stalled after Bhutto was overthrown a year later and following the overthrow of Daoud Khan in 1978, the new [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA]] government back to the hardline stance on the Durand Line claiming that Afghanistan's borders extended up until the [[Indus River]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cesaretti |first=Laura |last2=Qazizai |first2=Fazelminallah |date=2021-01-08 |title=On the Afghan-Pakistan Frontier, the Danger Is Never Over |url=https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-treacherous-frontier/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=New Lines Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Anthony |title=Afghanistan's two-party communism: Parcham and Khalq |date=1983 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University |isbn=978-0-8179-7792-4 |series=Histories of ruling Communist parties |location=Stanford, Calif}}</ref><ref name="Rasanayagam 2005 64">{{cite book |last=Rasanayagam |first=Angelo |title=Afghanistan: A Modern History|page=[https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00ange/page/64 64]|year=2005|publisher=I.B. Tauris |url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00ange|url-access=registration|isbn=978-1850438571}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=ur Rahman|first=Hanif|date=December 2012|title=Pak-Afghan relations during Z.A. Bhutto Era: The dynamics of Cold War|url=http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jrnl%2033-2%20(2012)%20PDF/2.%20Pak-Afghan%20Relations,%20hanif%20khan.pdf|journal=Pakistan Journal of History and Culture|volume=XXXIII|pages=34–35|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=10 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110135620/http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jrnl%2033-2%20(2012)%20PDF/2.%20Pak-Afghan%20Relations,%20hanif%20khan.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, amid cross-border tensions, former Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]] said that Afghanistan will "never recognise" the Durand Line as the border between the two countries.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siddiqui|first1=Naveed|title=Afghanistan will never recognise the Durand Line: Hamid Karzai|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1318594|access-date=9 September 2017|newspaper=Dawn|date=5 March 2017|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804152337/https://www.dawn.com/news/1318594|url-status=live}}</ref>