Pakistan |
Afghanistan |
Afghanistan–Pakistan relations began in August 1947 after British India was partitioned into the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan are usually described as inseparable states due to their historical, religious, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic ties, as well as their multiple trade and economic ties.[1] Both neighbouring states are Islamic republics and part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. However, the relationship between the two countries has been affected by the Durand Line, the issues of Pashtunistan and Balochistan, the 1980s Soviet war, the rise of the Taliban, the 2001-present war, and the growing influence of India in Afghanistan.
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Southern and eastern Afghanistan is predominately a Pashto-speaking region, like the adjacent Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and northern Balochistan in Pakistan. This entire area is inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns who belong to different Pashtun tribes.[2] The Pashtuns have lived in this region for thousands of years, since at least the 1st millennium BC.[3][4][5]
The Durand Line border was established after the 1893 Durand Line Agreement between Mortimer Durand of colonial British India and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan of Afghanistan for fixing the limit of their respective spheres of influence. The single-page agreement which contains seven short articles was signed by Durand and Khan, agreeing not to exercise interference beyond the frontier line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India.[6] Pakistan inherited this agreement after its partition from India in 1947 but there has never been a formal agreement or ratification between Islamabad and Kabul.
The Afghan government still refuses to recognize the poorly-marked Durand Line as the international border between the two states, claiming that the Durand Line Agreement has been void in the past due to violations by Pakistan as well as other reasons.[7] Pakistan, on the other side, issued a warning to Afghanistan in 2008 that it would not "tolerate any violations of its borders". Pakistani Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, explained that the Durand Line border was too long to police.[8] Relations have continued to be strained, as several top Afghan officials stated that they are weary of Pakistan's negative influence in the country. The Afghan government often accuses Pakistan of using its spy network, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in aiding Taliban and other militants. Pakistan has denied the allegations but has said that it does not have full control of the actions of the ISI. Relations became even more strained as the United States supports an Afghan invasion of rogue tribal regions.[9] There have been many reports in the last decade about the Pak-Afghan border skirmishes, which usually occur when army soldiers are in hot pursuit chasing insurgents who cross the border back and forth for their own advantages. This leads to tensions between the two states, especially after hearing reports of civilian casualties which is the result of carelessness of the soldiers on the front line.[10]
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Pakistani government played a vital role in supporting the Mujahideen and assisting Afghan refugees. Pakistan absorbed an estimated 3 million refugees and provided shelters to them at various regugee camps, mainly around Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[11] After the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989, Pakistan, with cooperation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), continued to host the refugees. In 1999, the United States provided approximately $70 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, mainly through multilateral organizations and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Pakistani strategists view Afghanistan as providing "strategic depth" to develop greater access and links to Central Asia and in the event of a war with neighboring India. In the event that the Indian Army crosses into Pakistan, the Pakistan Army would temporary locate supplies in Afghanistan and prepare for a counter-offensive. Furthermore, many Pakistanis see in Afghanistan and Afghans a common bond based on religion, history, culture, language and ethnic ties. At various times, Pakistan backed the mujahideen against the Soviets, mujahideen against each other and the Taliban against the Iranian-backed Northern Alliance.
The overthrow of the Taliban regime in November 2001 has seen somewhat strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The present Karzai administration feels that the remnants of the former Taliban government are being supported by factions within Pakistan for the same above reasons. However, Pakistan has said the government cannot control all elements of its intelligence agency, the ISI, which the United States and others accuse of contributing to the instability in Afghanistan. In 2006 Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that "Iran and Pakistan and others are not fooling anyone" when it come to interfering in his country.
"If they don’t stop, the consequences will be … that the region will suffer with us equally. In the past we have suffered alone; this time everybody will suffer with us.… Any effort to divide Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create the same thing in the neighboring countries. All the countries in the neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should know that it is a different ball game this time."[7]—Hamid Karzai, February 17, 2006
Many prominent Afghan figures were assassinated in 2011, including Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ahmad Wali Karzai, Jan Mohammad Khan, Mohammed Daud Daud, Ghulam Haider Hamidi and others.[12] Also in the same year, many large scale attacks by the Pakistani based Haqqani network took place around the country. After the September 2011 attack in Kabul, the United States warned Pakistan of a possible military action against the Haqqanis in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.[13] The U.S. blames Pakistan's government, mainly Pakistani Army and its ISI agency, for many of the attacks inside Afghanistan.[14]
"In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani army and ISI, jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence. They may believe that by using these proxies, they are hedging their bets or redressing what they feel is an imbalance in regional power. But in reality, they have already lost that bet."[15]
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, told Radio Pakistan that "The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago, that was the work of the Haqqani network. There is evidence linking the Haqqani Network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop."[16] Other top U.S. officials such as Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta made similar statements.[17][14] Despite all of this, Afghan President Hamid Karzai labelled Pakistan as Afghanistan's "twin brother".[18] Such words in diplomatic talks mean that Afghanistan cannot turn enemy against the state of Pakistan to please others.
In July 2010, a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) was reached between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the Afghan-Pak Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), which was observed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The two states also signed a MoU for the construction of rail tracks in Afghanistan to connect with Pakistan Railways (PR)[19], which has been in the making since at least 2005.[20]
In October 2010, the long-awaited Afghan-Pak Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) between the two states was finally inked. The landmark agreement was signed by Pakistani Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, Afghan Ministry of Commerce. The ceremony was attended by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a number of foreign ambassadors, Afghan parliamentarians and senior officials.[1] It would allow each nation's shipping trucks into the others; Afghan trucks will be allowed to drive through Pakistan to the Wagah border with India, including to the port cities of Karachi and Gwadar.[21]
In November 2010, the two states formed a joint chamber of commerce to expande trade relations and solve the problems traders face.[22][23] The APTTA agreement has taken effect after several Afghan trucks delivered fruits from Afghanistan to the Wagah border with India in June 2011. With the completion of the APTTA, the United States and other NATO member states are planning to revive the Silk Road. This is to help the local economy of Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan, by connecting South Asia with Central Asia and the Middle East.[24]
| Pakistan | Afghanistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | ca. 180 million | ca. 34.385 million |
| Area | 796,095 km² (307,374 sq mi) | 647,500 km² (251,772 sq mi) |
| Population Density | 214.3/km² (555/sq mi) | 43.5/km² (111.8/sq mi) |
| Capital | Islamabad | Kabul |
| Largest City | Karachi | Kabul |
| Government | Islamic republic and Federal Parliamentary republic | Islamic republic |
| Independence | August 14, 1947 (from United Kingdom) | April 1709, October 1747, and August 19, 1919 |
| Official languages | Urdu, English | Dari, Pashto |
| Main religions | Islam 95%, other (includes Christianity and Hinduism) 5% | Islam 99%, other 1% |
| Ethnic groups | Punjabi 44.68%, Pashtun 15.42%, Sindhi 14.1%, Seraiki 8.38%, Muhajirs 7.57%, Baloch 3.57%, other 6.28% | Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 4%, Baloch 2%, other 4%. |
| GDP (nominal) | $210.8 billion ($1265 per capita) | $15.608 billion ($517 per capita) |
| GDP (PPP) | $483 billion | $27.361 billion |
| Military expenditures | 3% of GDP (2007 est.) or $7.0 billion | 1.9% of GDP (2009 est.) or $0.25 billion ($250 million) |
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