Pakistan Rejects Senior Taliban Official’s Statement On Durand Line, Calls It Fanciful

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has reacted to the comments made by Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's Deputy Foreign Minister, regarding the non-recognition of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as "self serving and fanciful.”

The ministry urged the Taliban to address Pakistan's security concerns instead of focusing on this issue.

In a statement released on Friday, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan stated, "Any self-serving and fanciful claims regarding the legality and sanctity of the Pak-Afghan border cannot change the facts of geography, history and international law."

Previously, Stanekzai had stated at a conference commemorating the anniversary of the former Soviet army's withdrawal from Afghanistan in Logar that internal disputes among Afghans during the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani's descendants led to the British invasion of Afghanistan.

Stanekzai also mentioned that as a result of these internal conflicts, Britain divided half of Afghanistan by drawing the "imaginary Durand Line," and now Pakistan is "unjustly" expelling Afghan migrants from there.

He emphasised, "We have never recognised the Durand Line in our lifetime, and we do not recognise it."

Reacting to the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister's remarks, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan advised the group to focus on the real security concerns of Pakistan instead of "divert[ing] public attention by such unfortunate public pronouncements.” The ministry stated its commitment to facilitating the regulated movement of people and commercial goods across the border, based on intergovernmental standards.

The dispute over the border between the two countries is not a new issue. Almost all Afghan governments in recent decades have not recognised this border. During Hamid Karzai's presidency, government agencies were instructed to refer to it as the "imaginary Durand Line," but Pakistan asserts that this line is the official border between the two countries, recognised internationally.