Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to establish border mechanism

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to establish a coordination mechanism for facilitating people’s movement at border crossing points between the two countries.

The agreement came during a two-day visit by Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yousuf to Kabul, Islamabad announced on Sunday.

Yousuf, who also heads Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), a group established by Islamabad to coordinate with the war-torn country, visited Kabul on Jan. 29-30.

The objective of the visit, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, was to discuss with Afghan leadership the humanitarian requirements of the country and Pakistan’s proposals for deepening economic engagement to overcome the current challenges Afghanistan is facing.

Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq and senior officials from relevant ministries were part of the delegation.

The two sides also agreed to initiate barter trade, modalities for which will be worked out immediately.

During the visit, Yousuf called on Afghanistan’s acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdus Salam Hanafi and acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan and bilateral relations between the two countries.

He also held delegation-level meetings with other relevant Afghan ministers and senior officials dealing with humanitarian and economic issues.

During the visit, the statement added, Pakistan offered Afghanistan capacity building and training support in multiple sectors, including health, education, banking, customs, railways, and aviation.

Both sides also reiterated their commitment to early completion of the three major connectivity projects – CASA-1,000 (Central Asia-South Asia power project), the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, and the Trans-Afghan Rail project.

Afghanistan and Pakistan emphasized their commitment to ensuring peace and stability in both countries, the statement concluded.

The visit follows an ongoing disagreement over border fencing between the two sides with Kabul objecting to Islamabad's move to fence the porous border to " stop cross border movement of terrorists."

In December last, Pakistani soldiers were stopped from installing a security fence in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the first such incident since the Taliban came to power in mid-August 2021.

Pakistan, which shares a border of almost 2,670 kilometers (1,640 miles) with Afghanistan, began the fencing in 2017 to block militant infiltration, smuggling, and other illegal crossings.

According to the government, more than 90% of the work has been completed.

Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share 18 crossing points, with the busiest ones being the northwestern Torkham and Chaman border posts.

Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line – the de facto border region between the two countries – on the grounds that it was created by a British colonial regime “to divide ethnic Pashtuns.”

The border was established in 1893 in line with an agreement between India under British colonial rule and Abdur Rahman Khan, the then ruler of Afghanistan.

Islamabad, however, insists the Durand Line is a permanent border between the two neighbors.