Abstract
The territory has remained a bone of contention between modern nation states. Pakistan and Afghanistan have also no exception from it. Pak-Afghan relations have been in turmoil since the day when Afghanistan refused to accept Pakistan as a country and voted against its newly independent neighbor in the United Nations. It all happened in lieu of that Afghanistan is of the view that the North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP), currently known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Baluchistan and some areas of Punjab are the parts of Afghan territory. Afghanistan breached all the previous agreements made over the Durand Line calling it just an imaginary line. Based on this entire scenario, this research study analyzes the changing dynamics of Pak-Afghan relationships in different eras driven by different factors. It discusses the pre-colonial impacts on the relationship between the two countries, it also probes what happened right after 1947 and then highlights the impacts of 9/11 tragic events. Reviewing the existing literature and the opinions of different political scientists on this issue, this study discusses the historical background of Pak-Afghan borderland. Moreover, it also attempts to shed light upon the geostrategic importance of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the region so that the political decisions on the persisting issue are made in a way that they favor the interests of both the states. This paper also elucidates the literature available on the colonial legacy of the Durand Line.
Highlights
The last three decades have been histrionic in a sense that the war in Afghanistan and the revolutionary shuffle in the political panorama of Pakistan have driven the dynamics of this borderland toward reorganization, both in the logic of scope and importance
The reason behind Pakistan claiming the North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) region currently named as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) was its opinion that there were more Pashtun community representatives abiding in Pakistan than in Afghanistan
The empty sockets in the literature about this important political matter need to be plugged in with more research and discussion, given some evidences from the history, we can conclude it on the note that the importance of both the countries should be kept in mind while making any decisions
Summary
This research paper is though, an attempt to probe the history of Pak-Afghan borderland and the changing dynamics of the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan over time It discusses the three important phases in the relationship of neighborhood countries including pre-colonial, post-1947 and post 9/11 impacts. The British Colonial power drew the Durand line in order to keep the Czarist Russia at distant by declaring Afghanistan as a buffer state during the Great game of 19th century This line divides the region, formally known as Pashtunistan into two of which half of the area comes into the possession of Pakistan and half remains to be the part of Afghanistan. To know it all is necessary to highlight the importance of both of these countries so that it becomes certain that the conflict must be resolved based on the fact that none of the states and their interests are marginalized
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