PAKISTAN and Afghanistan are the two largest states of South Asia that are culturally, socially, religiously and historically linked; share a common border of 2,611 kilometres called the Durand Line (Pak-Afghan border). Currently, the homeland is facing dangerous challenges including human trafficking, insurgency, arrival of terrorists and the continuous increase in the activities of non-state actors. The Durand Line is an international border that has a legal status. According to the principle of the International Court of Justice, “juris possidetis uti”, Afghanistan cannot unilaterally change the Durand Line, which was established at the time of Pakistan’s independence in 1947.
The Durand Line Treaty gives Pakistan the legal right to control illegal movement and ensure the security of its people. According to the Secure Fence Act 2006, Pakistan is allowed to fence its western border, and prevent illegal activities. In view of the current situation, the government of Pakistan has taken several steps to effectively monitor the Pak-Afghan border in order to eliminate the terrorists and anti-national elements, but on the other hand, the steps taken by the Afghan government are negligible. The current security, economic and other dire crises of Pakistan have encouraged the Afghani and Pakistani terrorists and they are actively engaged in the nefarious campaign to destroy Durand Line with the help of India.
The Afghan Taliban and TTP nexus has also very negative impact on Pak-Afghan relations. Unfortunately, after the establishment of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, terrorism in Pakistan increased by 60%. During the era of Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai, Afghan soil was used against Pakistan and it was expected that cross-border terrorism would end in the Taliban government. However, the situation went otherwise and the Taliban government released thousands of TTP terrorists, including Deputy Maulvi Faqir Muhammad. One can easily understand the ideological, religious, cultural and ethnic bonds between both the groups; that can be called as natural allies. In the previous military operations in Pakistan, 96% of the areas were cleared from terrorism and the remaining terrorists fled to Afghanistan. Recently, the TTP is taking advantage of the Taliban government in Afghanistan because of several important commonalities between them.
The Afghan government has been given a clear message to eradicate terrorism from Afghanistan through various means such as diplomatic, political, military, formal and informal channels. In this regard, they are urged to implement the Doha Agreement; commitment of not allowing its soil to be used against anyone. However, the Afghan Taliban government continued to deny it. In its recent report, the Security Council has also supported Pakistan’s position by revealing the TTP and Afghan Taliban relations. Despite all these facts and evidences, the Taliban’s demand of stopping operation against these terrorists is pretty ironical.
After 9/11, the resistance of jihadi groups and al-Qaeda with the Taliban continued against the American invasion of Afghanistan. In 2007, TTP was established whose central leadership; Baitullah Mahsud, Hakimullah, Maulana Fazlullah helped the Afghan Taliban against the US. According to the TTP leadership, their Movement is an extension of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan. The TTP provided safe passage to Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan. A major change in TTP came when it announced its writ in the tribal areas of Pakistan and TTP Noor Wali Mehsud started Taliban style operations in both administrative and military aspects. The Afghan Taliban government did not expel the outlawed TTP from Afghanistan as a reward for its loyalty, but became facilitator for it.
ISKP Islamic state Khorasan province, a sub-terrorist organization of ISIS, has also strengthened its roots in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A large number of its terrorists are detached from both TTP and Afghan Taliban. On the contrary of TTP, the ISKP continued its struggle for the caliphate and refused to recognize the Islamic Emirate of the Afghan Taliban. Afghan soil has become a paradise for terrorists. Al-Qaeda including TTP has also been found involved in anti-Pakistan activities. Their attacks have increased by 79% in 2023, which are still continuing this year. There have been many incidents of skirmishes and clashes on the border of Afghanistan such as Torkham and Chaman. Due to the hostile attitude of the Taliban government, Pakistan strictly follows the policy of repatriating Afghan refugees, thousands have been repatriated so far. The Soviet war led to geo-strategic changes in Afghanistan, on the other hand, the so-called American war on terror destabilized it.
Pak-Afghan relations can be explained by Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT). According to this, the concept of security is highly dominated by regional dynamics. Due to changing regional dynamics between states, the overall security of the region is impacted which ultimately have influence on the international dynamics as well. Same is the case with Pakistan and Afghanistan as well, various bilateral security dynamics greatly impact the regional proceedings. Similarly, it is not only based on material capabilities but also on the ideas and actions of the state actors involved in both states. Factors such as ethnic or religious sentiments, cultural, social and internal interference that lead to friendship or enmity between states also define bilateral ties. In the post-Cold War scenario, the security of the region is constantly impacted by the entry of various external powers.
Pakistan expected that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Afghan Taliban government would lead to the beginning of a new era of peace, security and stability in the region. But on the contrary, attacks on security forces and terrorism in various areas especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan increased. If we examine the history of Pak-Afghan relations, it can be seen that they have been subject to continuous ups and downs since the beginning. During the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Afghanistan refused to recognize the new state in the UNO. On the contrary, Pakistan not only supported Afghanistan in the Soviet Union war, but also warmly welcomed the millions of Afghan refugees who migrated as a result of the war. While doing so, Pakistan had to suffer in the form of human trafficking, narcotics, Kalashnikov culture, cross-border terrorism in the form of Afghanistan’s obliviousness. Afghanistan has always supported India. Indian consulates were established in parts of Afghanistan which are the terrorist training centres of the wicked intelligence Agency RAW. Due to Narendra Modi’s poisoning of minds of the Afghan leadership, army and intelligence, the efforts of the political and military leadership to establish peace and improve relations in the region have not been effective yet.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
