Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: A US Congressman, Brad Sherman, during a meeting with Pakistani Premier Imran Khan has called upon the US government to persuade its Afghan counterpart to officially accept the de-facto Durand Line.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Khan after a Congressional reception him. “We discussed opportunities to strengthen relations and economic ties with Pakistan,” the US legislator wrote on his Twitter handle.
Brad said the whole world recognized the line as an official border between Afghanistan and Pakistan; therefore, the Afghan government should also give it a formal de jure status.
This comes as the Pakistani government has started fencing the Durand Line despite civilians living on both sides of the line have voiced strong opposition and protests to this move by the country. They have repeatedly cut and removed the barbed wire.
Pakistan’s contention behind the fencing of the line, as the country says, is part of the border management to stop infiltration of militants.
However, the Afghan government remaining tight-lipped on the issue has provided the opportunity for Pakistan and US to dare to bring up this issue and make such remarks.
The Durand Line is a hypothetical 2,200-kilometre border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although the Durand Line is internationally recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized by Afghanistan.
In 2017, amid cross-border tensions, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan will “never recognize” the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries.
No one could neglect the fact that the Durand Line demarcated by the previous British rulers for meeting its nefarious designs is a controversial issue, and its resolution is rest with the people living on its both sides.
