Durand Line
The Durand Line (Pashto: د ډیورنډ کرښه; Urdu: ڈیورنڈ لائن; Dari: خط دیورند), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a 2,611-kilometre (1,622 mi) international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China.
| Durand Line | |
|---|---|
Map marking the Durand Line border in red | |
| Characteristics | |
| Entities | Afghanistan Pakistan |
| Length | 2,611 km (1,622 mi) |
| History | |
| Established | 12 November 1893 Signing of the Durand Line Agreement at the end of the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War |
| Current shape | 8 August 1919 Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 ratified at the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War |
| Treaties | Treaty of Gandamak, Durand Line Agreement, Treaty of Rawalpindi |
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 Afghan Emir, to fix the limit of their respective spheres of influence and improve diplomatic relations and trade. The British Empire considered Afghanistan to be an independent state at the time, although they controlled its foreign affairs and diplomatic relations.
The single-page Agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise interference beyond the Durand Line. A joint British-Afghan demarcation survey took place starting from 1894, covering some 800 miles (1,300 km) of the border. Established towards the close of the British–Russian "Great Game" rivalry, the resulting line established Afghanistan as a buffer zone between British and Russian interests in the region. 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 and 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.
Although the Durand Line is internationally recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized in Afghanistan. Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan, former prime minister and president of Afghanistan, vigorously opposed the border and launched a propaganda war – however during his visit to Pakistan in August 1976 he softened his tone by recognising the Durand line as the border. 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.