Asif Derani, former Pakistani representative on Afghan affairs, stated that from Islamabad’s perspective, the Durand Line is no longer a contentious issue. He emphasized that an overwhelming majority of Pakistan’s Pashtuns consider themselves loyal citizens of Pakistan, with 99.99 percent of them being faithful to the country and not viewing the line as a political matter.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Afghanistan International, Derani stressed that Pakistan’s Pashtuns do not regard Afghanistan as a political leader or authority but see themselves as responsible citizens committed to Pakistan’s political structure. According to him, these citizens have made numerous sacrifices for Pakistan’s stability and security.<\/p>\n
Derani, who is of Pashtun ethnicity himself, addressed questions about possible opposition by Pakistan’s Pashtuns to the Durand Line or support for the idea of a “Greater Afghanistan,” saying that the ethnic commonality across the border is primarily cultural and linguistic. He added that when traveling to Afghanistan, he does not feel alienated and can speak Pashto and somewhat Dari but does not consider these ties a reason to claim political or territorial demands.<\/p>\n
He remarked that the relationship between Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line is a natural social bond and should not be interpreted as a source of political tension.<\/p>\n
The issue of the Durand Line resurfaced in Afghan political circles after Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of Afghanistan’s Islamic Unity Party, acknowledged the line’s legitimacy. His remarks sparked new reactions and debates among political figures and social media users.<\/p>\n
The Durand Line was established in 1893 between Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, then ruler of Afghanistan, and Mortimer Durand, representing British India. The demarcation runs through Pashtun and Baloch-inhabited areas and today serves as the recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
While Pakistan considers the Durand Line an official international boundary between the two countries, successive Afghan governments have, at various times, refused to formally recognize it. Over past decades, the Durand Line has been a sensitive issue impacting Kabul-Islamabad relations, occasionally triggering political and security tensions between the neighbors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Pakistani envoy Asif Derani says the Durand Line is no longer a controversial issue in Pakistan, with most Pashtuns loyal to Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-news","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}