The Durand Line is the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the time it was formed, this 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border was the border between Afghanistan, a largely Muslim country, and India, a largely Hindu country. The Durand Line was the result of an 1893 agreement between Sir Mortimer Durand, a secretary of the British Indian government, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the emir of Afghanistan. It is both controversial and consequential because Afghanistan does not recognize the border as legitimate.

History of the Durand Line

For many centuries, an ethnic group called the Pashtun have lived, and continue to live, in the region near the Durand Line. The Pashtun are indigenous to what is now northeastern Afghanistan. They practice Sunni Islam and have their own language, tribal government structure and culture.

When the British colonized India, they took control of an increasing amount of land throughout the early and mid-1800s. During this period, Britain and Russia both seized land from indigenous people as they competed to control Central Asia. Both Russia and Britain's controlled lands were encroaching on Afghanistan, which was an independent country, from different sides. Influence over Afghanistan became an important part of Britain's strategy to stop Russian expansion. Afghanistan resisted British colonization by fighting and winning the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1839, and then coming to a stalemate in a war with Britain in 1878. The British Empire was unsuccessful in taking over or colonizing Afghanistan, but it was able to install a new ruler, Abdur Rahman Khan, and maintain power over Afghanistan’s foreign policy as part of an agreement to withdraw its troops and keep Afghanistan independent.

A few years later, the British proposed the Durand Line to definitively separate British-controlled India from Afghanistan. Afghan citizens resisted and rejected the Durand Line as the official border even after Abdur Rahman Khan agreed to the boundary. This was for several reasons. First, the Durand Line cut through the Pashtun community, putting half of the Pashtun people in India and the other half in Afghanistan, thereby breaking apart their societal structure and culture. Afghans also argued that the agreement creating the Durand Line was null and void because it was made under duress by the British Empire, which had installed the ruler who had accepted it. Some Afghan leaders argued that the Pashtun community should be governed under its own autonomous nation. The British argued that the mountainous, dry land in the Pashtun region had little value and that its division was insignificant, seemingly failing to understand or appreciate the significance of the land to Pashtun herders. 

The British Empire colonized India until Indians forced the British to withdraw. India gained independence in 1947. As independence approached, tensions between Hindus and Muslims escalated. In response, the British Empire split the subcontinent into two nations: India and Pakistan. In addition, Pakistan was divided into two parts, separated by about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles). The partition divided ethnic groups in half. Muslims and Sikhs fled their homes to escape to the country that they thought would be more welcoming, with Muslims fleeing to Afghanistan and Sikhs going to India. What resulted was panic, ethnic violence and the displacement of millions of people. Later, in 1974, Pakistan was divided in two: West Pakistan became Pakistan, and East Pakistan became Bangladesh.

Although Afghanistan continued to oppose the Durand Line as its eastern border, it was not redrawn. It now was recognized by Pakistan and the international community as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. When the United Nations held a vote to decide if Pakistan could become a member, Afghanistan voted no—the only country to do so.

For decades, the Durand Line continued to be used in conflicts between international forces, with Afghanistan and Pakistan as proxies. Skirmishes between Afghans and Pakistanis at the Durand Line escalated during the latter half of the Cold War. When Russia invaded Afghanistan, the United States recruited people along the Durand Line to fight against the Russians. As part of the post-911 War on Terror, the United States used Pakistan’s airspace to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan. This resulted in civilian casualties and condemnation from human rights organizations.

The Durand Line Today

The Durand Line remains a site of contention. In 2017, tensions increased when Pakistan began constructing a fence along the Durand Line, claiming it was needed for national security. People on both sides of the line have had to flee for their safety, and the poverty rates on both sides are very high. Leaders in both countries also claim that the other country is allowing terrorist groups to cross the border, leading to more conflict. Many Pashtun people depend on border crossings for work or school, and they complain that has become more difficult with the rising conflict.

The Durand Line is part of a long history of colonizing countries establishing borders that serve their own political purposes while ignoring the cultures and ethnicities of the people living there. Such arbitrary boundaries have had devastating impacts on Indigenous people. For example, British and French colonizers worked together to split the Indigenous Somali people in Africa into five different countries, which persisted even after the colonial empires were dismantled. Violence also resulted in Palestine after the creation of Israel. Palestinians fled the new country of Israel following violence from Israeli soldiers. In these ways, the colonization of national borders has a significant impact on the safety, culture and community of Indigenous groups.