Afghan-Pakistan Torkham Border 

Source: GS2/ International Relations, Places in News

In News

• Afghan-Pakistan Torkham border clashes intensify as Taliban builds a border post on Pakistan soil.

About Torkham Crossing

• The Torkham Crossing, a critical border point connecting Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• Torkham Crossing is a crucial border crossing that links Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its strategic location makes it a vital entry point for trade and connectivity between the two nations.
• The Border road is a key lifeline for a landlocked Afghanistan, linking the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar to Jalalabad, the main city in Nangarhar, and the route onwards to the capital Kabul.

Durand Line 

• It is an important international boundary line between Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
• The Durand Line was drawn up by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat, to safeguard the interests of the British Empire from Tsarist Russia.
• The single-page Durand Line Agreement was signed by the King of Afghanistan, Amir Abdur Rahman, in November 1893.
• The line was drawn up to ensure that strategic regions such as the Khyber Pass remained on the side of the British Empire.

Why does Afghanistan oppose the Durand Line?

• Afghanistan claims that British India unilaterally imposed the line on Rahman, and divided families, referring to the Pashtuns — Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group and the key to any regime seeking legitimacy.
• When Pakistan was created in 1947 and inherited the Durand Line, Afghanistan questioned the legality of the Durand Line Agreement as it had been signed with the British Crown and ought to have lapsed at independence.

Source: TH