Border dispute

The firing between Pakistan and Afghanistan across the Torkham border might have stopped – at least temporarily – but diplomatic shots were still being launched. Soon after DG ISPR Asim Bajwa announced that the two countries had agreed to a ceasefire, and the construction of a gate on our side of the border, Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal said no such agreement had been reached. Zakhiwal said he had held a meeting with Pakistani military officials and agreed to the ceasefire but not to the construction of a border gate. It is certain that the reality is more complicated. The ambassador appears to have been put under pressure from hawkish elements within his country, which may suggest the Afghan government has not decided on how to proceed on border security. Be that as it may, its inability to decide cannot be an excuse to start a military skirmish with Pakistan. Border management has been a major dispute between the two countries since the start of the year and we wonder how Afghan interests are compromised by Pakistan’s decision to build a gate within its territory. There are no forthcoming answers from the Afghan side. Afghanistan cannot accuse Pakistan of not acting against terrorism and then attack it for building gates on the border. Intra-Afghan rivalries cannot be a reason for escalating tensions with Pakistan. Pakistan has every right to do what it wants on its side of the border and Afghanistan can raise its objections in bilateral meetings. What it cannot do is pretend the Durand Line doesn’t exist and start dictating, whether through rhetoric or gunfire, our border policy. It cannot be allowed to make statements of its concerns down the barrel of a gun; any shots fired will be responded to. This means that cross-border firing could return to the same scale as before and the situation can quickly escalate out of control.

It being given that there is no argument to be brooked about the legality of our actions, it should behove us to wonder if the action we are taking is in our own interest. Obviously, once Afghan forces became trigger-happy, there was no option but to close the border – if for nothing else but the safety of those who would have been crossing it. Before that, though, we suffered billions of rupees in losses as trade came to a halt. It also does a disservice to those on both sides of the border who need to cross over to meet family and get to work. This issue needs to be resolved diplomatically but the chances of that are getting slim – mainly due to the Afghan reaction. The Torkham border is a microcosm of the relationship between the two countries, where fear and anger trump reason. Apparently both countries want the same thing: tighter borders and the elimination of cross-border terrorism. When these aims translate into reality, Pakistan and Afghanistan are on two opposite poles. Both sides must know that the only way forward is to talk their border disputes through but the recent events confirm how tense relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have become. It is high time Pakistan and Afghanistan formulated a comprehensive border management regime. This will require both sides to commit to serious dialogue.