The United States demanded that Afghanistan improve its relations with Pakistan and join the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), of which Pakistan was a founding member, in order to contain the Soviet Union. Given its location on the Soviet border, Afghanistan declined. Meanwhile, Kabul needed modern weapons to compensate for Pakistan`s growing military power. So she turned to the Soviet Union. The Durand Agreement was signed in 1893. The Emir had first approached the Indian government in 1888 and demanded a settlement of their respective spheres. There was a tense preparation of the agreement, in which British officials stopped the transit of arms imports to Afghanistan, while Abdul Rahman waged a war of almost genocidal proportions against the Hazaras [48]. After Abdul Rahman spent his early years as Anamir subjugating other Pashtuns south and east of Kabul, he was naturally interested in expanding his influence into indefinite tribal areas now east of the line, where Kabul and the British were vying for influence. Officials of the Emir of Zhob (Kakaristan) and Wana (Waziristan) were threatened and expelled [49].

Viceroy Landsowne warned that if the emir did not accept the mutual demarcation of the territory, the Indian government would „draw its own conclusions.“ [50] Article 3 of the Treaty of Gandumak ceded control of Afghan foreign policy to British India. Article 4 of the treaty, which was rigorously rejected by former Afghan emirs, guaranteed the presence of a permanent British representative in Kabul. There have been territorial transfers. According to Article 9, the British retained the Khyber and Michni passports, while Kurram, Sibi and Pshin were to remain under British control, but „would not be considered definitively separated from the Afghan kingdom.“ Article 10 granted the emir a grant of Rs 600,000 to help „restore and maintain his authority“ as well as „effectively fulfil the established obligations in their entirety“. These obligations included the security of a telegraph line to be built, the safety of the British representative and the safe passage of trade. In 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, British-led Indian forces invaded Afghanistan and began a war with Afghan rulers.[10] Two years later, in 1842, the British were defeated and the war ended. The British invaded Afghanistan again in 1878 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British managed to install an emir – Abdur Rahman Khan, and the Treaty of Gandamak was signed in 1880. Afghanistan ceded control of various border areas to the British Empire.

In addition to achieving all their geopolitical goals, the British withdrew. The Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Headquarters (AGCHO) presents the line on its maps as a de facto border, including the designation of the „Durand Line 2310 km (1893)“ as the „International Demarcation Line“ on its homepage. [64] However, a map in an article by the „Secretary General of the Government of Balochistan in Exile“ extends the border from Afghanistan to the Indus. [32] The Pashtun-dominated Afghan government not only refuses to recognize the Durand Line as an international border between the two countries, but also claims that Pakistan`s Pashtun territories rightly belong to Afghanistan. [12] The Durand Line Agreement does not mention a time limit, suggesting that the contract does not have an expiry date. In 2004, U.S. speakers The Foreign Office`s Bureau of Geographer and Global Affairs and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office also pointed out that the Durand Line agreement does not mention an expiration date. 13 – Omrani, Bijan.

„The Durand Line: History and Problems of the Afghan-Pakistan Border“. Asian Affairs 40.2 (2009): 177-95. Taylor Francis Online. Web. 22 August 2015. The United States and other NATO countries often ignore this sensitive issue, likely because of the possible implications for their war strategy in Afghanistan. Their involvement could strain relations and jeopardize their own national interests in the region. [12] This happened after the NATO bombing in November 2011, in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed. [88] In response to this incident, Pakistan decided to cut off all NATO supply lines and increase border security by installing anti-aircraft guns and radars to monitor air activities. [89] With respect to the Durand Line, some competing maps would have differences of up to five kilometres. [90] The initial and primary demarcation, a joint Afghan-British survey and mapping effort, covered 800 miles and took place from 1894 to 1896. „The total length of the boundary, which had been demarcated and bounded between March 1894 and May 1896, was 800 miles.“ Detailed topographic maps with hundreds of boundary columns were soon published and are available in the British Library`s Survey of India collection.

[27] The full 20-page text of these detailed Joint Afghan-British Demarcation Records is available from several sources indicating that „J. Donald and Sardar Shireendil Khan, in a document dated November 21, 1894, established the boundary between Sikaram Peak (34-03 North, 69-57 East) and Laram Peak (33-13 North, 70-05 East). This section was characterized by 76 columns. The border from Laram Peak to Khwaja Khidr (32–34 North). was measured and scored by H. A. Anderson in collaboration with various Afghan leaders. characterized by (39) columns described in a report dated April 15, 1895. ==External links==King (published a report dated March 8, 1895 (on) the demarcation of the section from Khwaja Khidr to Domandi (31-55 north) by 31 columns.

The line from Domandi to New Shaman (30-55 north, 66-22 east) was marked by 92 columns by a joint demarcation commission headed by Captain (later Lieutenant-Colonel Sir) Henry McMahon and Sardar Gul Muhammad Khan (who issued a report dated 26 February 1895). McMahon also headed the demarcation commission with Muhammad Umar Khan, who crossed the border from the new Shaman to the border triangle with Iran. 94 columns described in a report dated May 13, 1896. [28] [29] In 1896, the long stretch from the Kabul River to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated because of its continuous and distinct watershed, leaving only the section near the Khyber Pass, which was eventually demarcated in the treaty of November 22, 1921, which was defined by Mahmoud Tarzi, „head of the Afghan government for the conclusion of the treaty“ and „Henry R.C, == References == Dobbs, envoy extraordinary and head of the British mission in Kabul. [28] A very short adjustment of the demarcation was made in 1933/34 in Arundu (Arnawai). [5] [28] A few years later, Yaqub was ousted from the emir ship and replaced by Abdur Rahman Khan, chosen by the British. That`s where it happened. After the collapse of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in 1992, Pakistan attempted to create a puppet state in Afghanistan from Taliban control, despite Article 2 of the Durand Line Agreement, which states: „The Indian government will never intervene in areas beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan,“ according to the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan. Peter Tomsen. [59] According to a Friday Times article in the summer of 2001, even Taliban leaders questioned the existence of the Durand Line when former Afghan Interior Minister Abdur Razzaq and a delegation of about 95 Taliban visited Pakistan. [60] The Taliban refused to support the Durand Line despite pressure from Islamabad, arguing that there should be no borders between Muslims.

When the Taliban government was overthrown in late 2001, Afghan President Hamid Karzai also began to resist the Durand Line,[61] and today the current government of Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line as its international border. Since 1947, no Afghan government has recognized the Durand Line as a border. [62] [63] These (misunderstandings) have contemporary implications. If the line were to remain a border for 100 years, it would mean that Afghanistan would have had to recover its legitimate territories in 1993. When Abdul Rahman sells his subjects and territory to the British, it undermines Kabul`s claims to the same territories and its former subjects. .