The Durand Line, which was unilaterally carved out by the British in 1883, is the de facto border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The artificial demarcation was formed without consideration for geography, terrain, population composition of the region, or any other elements that are considered when defining borders, according to Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat who was largely responsible for the Durand Line.
The British authority ignored historical context and the will of the local people at the time, basing the Durand Line exclusively on its geopolitical purpose. As a result, an area dominated by Pashtuns was partitioned between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Families, relatives, and communities living in the same area were now abruptly split by an arbitrary “boundary” nicknamed the “line of enmity,” a terrible hoax put on the Pashtun people.
Since 1948, the Durand Line has been a cause of tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is also a potential flashpoint between Pakistan and the Taliban (that now control Afghanistan).
Afghanistan claims the Pashtun-dominated area under Pakistani authority to be Afghan territory. It has frequently been said that the 1883 agreement is legally null and void and that Pakistan has no claim to the disputed territory.
No Afghan leader has even acknowledged the Durand Line, and this sentiment is shared by Pashtuns living on Pakistan’s side of the Durand Line. Over the years, the Pashtu people have formed a movement calling for integration with Afghanistan, but this movement has been repeatedly crushed by the Pakistani government, most often by force.
While Pashtuns on both sides of the border and the Afghan government have questioned the Durand Line’s legitimacy, the Pakistani government has maintained that the Durand Line is a legal border. The Pakistani government believes that the border was legitimately inherited from British India and that the Durand Line problem poses an existential danger to Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
