Faizi endorses Ghani’s view on Durand Line

KABUL, should be taken by the people, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said on Tuesday.

A day earlier, presidential runner Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai had said: “Peoples, not governments, are to take a decision on the Durand Line. It is hoped people will be enable to make the decision.” 

Faizi tended to endorse Ghani’s remarks, saying President Hamid Karzai held a similar view on the issue. “Ashraf Ghani is following the policy of President Karzai, who has long been in favour of people’s decision on Durand Line.”

The 2,640 kilometers porous border was established after an 1893 agreement between Mortimer Durand of British India and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan for fixing the limit of their respective spheres of influence as well as improving diplomatic relations.

Political analyst Hasan Haqyar called Durand Line a complex issue between Kabul and Islamabad. Recent spates between the neighbours stemmed from the border spate, he told Pajhwok Afghan News.

While denouncing the so-called frontier as a British conspiracy to divide Pakhtuns, Haqyar said a government or an individual could not decide the matter.

Another political commentator, Nauman Dost, believed the time was not ripe for raking up the divisive question. He believed neither the people were politically aware nor the government competent enough to take a pro-people stance on Durand Line.

Despite Kabul’s refusal to recognise Durand Line as an international border, Islamabad insists the dispute had been settled once for all.

mud

Visits: 6