Pak-Afghan Ties: Evolution, Challenges and the Way Forward

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Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Volume 14, Issue 1

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Pak-Afghan Ties: Evolution, Challenges and the Way Forward

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Author(s): Mairaj-ul-Hamid

Publication date (Print): 2017

Journal: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

Pakistan and Afghanistan are often bracketed as brother nations, having deep rooted historical links, traditional affinity, striking social fabric similarity, shared religious identity, ethno-cultural bondage, and strategic partnerships, all dating back to pre-partition Indian subcontinent era. Nevertheless, in the post-partition regional dynamics and legacy of issues between the British Raj and Afghanistan, bilateral relations between the two have been wavy, marked by ups and downs; yet the affinity and warmth at people-to-people level have remained generally cordial if not idyllic. After 9/11, US-led international coalition invaded Afghanistan; it overthrew the Taliban government and since then the political face of Afghanistan has been managed through overt coercion and covert machinations. The conflict of interest between the people of Afghanistan and foreign installed Afghan governments is the cause of current mass resentment leading to armed resistance; led by Afghan Taliban. The ensuing trouble casts its shadow on Pakistan in the form of inflow of unarmed benign refugees as well as militants alongside arms, drug and human trafficking. Afghan government has brushed aside many meaningful border management proposals from Pakistan. Post 9/11 bilateral relations have been revolving around serious distrust, blame game, refugee crisis, cross border violation leading to an environment of low intensity hostility towards each other. This paper summarizes the profile of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, identifies the challenges, envisages the prospects and proposes ways for narrowing the gap between existing and desired format of relationship.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): polipers

Title: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 18121829

ISSN (Electronic): 18127347

Publication date (Print): 2017

Volume: 14

Issue: 1

Pages: 59-82

Affiliations

Mairaj-ul-Hamid is a research team member at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad.

Article

Publisher ID: polipers.14.1.0059

DOI: 10.13169/polipers.14.1.0059

SO-VID: 7557bffb-c2a2-4552-9613-48a7088a0295

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Education,Religious studies & Theology,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,Economics

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] “Afghan journalists visit Pakhtunkhwa Radio.” The Frontier Post . (Oct 08, 2015).

[2] “Afghan President visits Pakistan to reset troubled ties.” BBC . (November 14, 2014). Accessed on October 16, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30049115.

[3] “Afghan President visits Pakistan to reset troubled ties.” “Afghanistan imbroglio: Implications for Pakistan's Tribal Areas.” Policy Perspectives . (2008).

[4] Babur, Mariana. “Pakistan, Afghanistan reaffirm desire for mutual cooperation.” The News . (Aug 14, 2015).

[5] Boone, Jon. “US drone strike in Pakistan kills Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor.” The Guardian , (May 22, 2016). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/21/us-airstrike-taliban-leader-mullah-akhtar-mansoor.

[6] “Breakthrough at ‘Heart of Asia’: Kabul agrees to restart dialogue with ‘reconcilable’ Taliban.” Dawn . (Dec 10, 2015).

[7] “China lauds Pakistan's role in facilitating Afghan peace process.” The Nation . (Nov 06, 2015).

[8] Durrani, Muhibullah and Ashraf Khan, “Pakistan-Afghan Relations: Historic Mirror.” The Dialogue , Volume IV. Number 1.

[9] Farhan, Ahmad Haseeb. “The raise of ISIS in Afghanistan is a tactical adjustment of Pakistan's Afghan policy,” Khaama . (Feb 22, 2015).

[10] “Ghani, Modi lash out at Pakistan on terrorism at Heart of Asia moot in Amritsar.” Dawn . (Dec, 05, 2016). http://www.dawn.com/news/1300452.

[11] Gul, Imtiyaz. “State of Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations.” PILDAT , (December 2012).

[12] Haidar, Masood. “Peace in Afghanistan needed for ending violence, Pakistan tells UN.” Daily Dawn . (Sep 19, 2015).

[13] Haider, Irfan. “Ashraf Ghani slams Pakistan over recent Kabul attacks.” Dawn (August 10, 2015). Accessed on October 16, 2015. http://www.dawn.com/news/1199613.

[14] Haider, Mateen and Irfan Haider. “Enemies of Afghanistan cannot be friends of Pakistan.” Dawn . (May 12, 2015). http://www.dawn.com/news/1181502.

[15] Haider, Mateen. “Gen Raheel visits Kabul, seeks handover of Mullah Fazlullah.” Dawn . (December 17, 2014). Accessed on October 16, 2015. http://www.dawn.com/news/1151412.

[16] Haideri, M ashraf. “India and Afghanistan: A Growing Partnership.” The Diplomat . (Sep 16, 2015). http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/india-and-afghanistan-a-growing-partnership/.

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[20] Hussain, Khawar. “Pakistan's Afghanistan Policy.” Naval Post Graduate School, California . (June, 2005).

[21] Iqbal, Anwar. “India wants to deny Pakistan strategic depth in Afghanistan: US report.” dawn.com . (Nov 04, 2015). http://www.dawn.com/news/1217416.

[22] “ISIS claims attack on Pakistani check post along Durand Line.” Khaama . (September 13, 2015). Accessed on October 16, 2015. http://www.khaama.com/isis-claims-attack-on-pakistani-check-post-along-durand-line-1509.

[23] “ISIS claims attack on Pakistani check post along Durand Line.” “Islamabad, Kabul agree upon steps for Taliban talks.” Dawn , (December 28, 2015).

[24] Khan, Hassan. “Trust Deficit and Pakistan-Afghanistan Rocky Relations,” PILDAT . (December 2012). http://www.pildat.org/Publications/publication/FP/TrustDeficitPak-AfghanRockyRelations_BKPaperEnglish.pdf.

[25] Khan, Tahir. “Afghanistan confirms Taliban chief injured in Pakistan gunfight.” tribune.com.pk . (Dec 03, 2015). http://tribune.com.pk/story/1003295/afghanistan-confirms-taliban-chief-injured-in-pakistan-gunfight/.

[26] Lewis, Martin W. “Deobandi Islam vs. Brelvi Islam in South Asia.” Geo-Currents . (October 07, 2010). Accessed on October 15, 2015. http://www.geocurrents.info/cultural-geography/deobandi-islam-vs-barelvi-islam-in-south-asia.

[27] Marwat, Akbar Jan. “The Murree Peace Parlays.” Daily Times . (July 16, 2015).

[28] Marwat, Akbar Jan. “Meeting with Afghan delegation: Pakistan for united fight against terrorism.” tribune.com.pk . (Aug 13, 2015). http://tribune.com.pk/story/937281/islamabad-to-share-evidence-of-pakistani-militants-presence-on-afghan-soil-with-kabul/.

[29] Mohmand, Rustam Shah. “Developments in Afghanistan: Implications for Pakistan and the Region.” Policy Perspectives . (2015).

[30] Naqvi, Razia Hassan. “Cultural History of Indian subcontinent; with special reference to Arts and Music”. (December, 2012) Accessed on 14 October 2015. http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/content/pdf/participant–papers/2012-12aaccd/Cultural_History_of_Indian_subcontinent_with_special_reference_to_Arts_and_Music_-_Muhammad_Ibrar_Raazia_Hassan.pdf.

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[32] Nazir, Tahir. “Marshal Plan that Built Europe, could not build Afghanistan.” SASSI , (Aug 05, 2015). http://www.sassi.org/marshal-plan-that-built-europe-could-not-build-afghanistan/.

[33] “Nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees detained in Pakistan.” Afghanistan Times . (January 24, 2015).

[34] “Nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees detained in Pakistan.” “New Afghan Taliban leader vows no peace talks in audio recording.” tribune.com.pk . (May 25, 2016). http://tribune.com.pk/story/1110367/new-afghan-taliban-leader-vows-no-peace-talks-audio-recording/.

[35] “Pak Pashtun nationalists convince Ashraf Ghani to meet Nawaz Sharif.” The News . (Nov 29, 2015).

[36] “Pak-Afghan trade volume declined by 50%: ACCI.” The Frontier Post . (July 22, 2016).

[37] “Pakistan backs Afghan-led peace process.” The Nation . (Sept 15, 2011).

[38] “Pakistan exposed Mullah Omar's death for its own interests: Kandahar clerics.” Khaama Press . (Aug 18, 2015). http://www.khaama.com/pakistan-exposed-mullah-omars-death-for-its-own-interests-kandahar-clerics-1401.

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[43] Rahman, Anees-ur. “Pakistani Journalists Visit Afghanistan.” Borderline . (Aug 13, 2015). http://borderline.pk/2015/08/13/582/.

[44] Rahman, Hanifur “Pak-Afghan Relations during Z.A. Bhutto Era.” Pakistan Journal of History and culture . (2012).

[45] Ron, Synovitz. “Afghanistan: ‘Pashtunistan’ Issues Linger behind Afghan-Pakistani Row.” Radio Free Europe . (March 24, 2006) Accessed on October 15, 2015. http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1067048.html.

[46] Sayyed, Baqir Sajjad. “COAS to share Ideas with US on Afghanistan.” Dawn . (Nov 08, 2015).

[47] Shamshad Ahmad. Pakistan and World Affairs . Jahangir, Lahore, 2010.

[48] Snow, Shawn. “Ghani's Pivot Away From Pakistan.” Foreign Policy . (Nov 25, 2015). http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/25/ghanis-pivot-away-from-pakistan/?wp_login_redirect=0.

[49] “Strategic Partnership Agreement: Pakistan rejects Karzai's pre-conditions.” The Express Tribune . (October 09, 2012).

[50] Tamanna, Zabihullah. “Switching white flags for black: ISIL and Afghan Taliban.” Anadulo Agency . (Feb 03, 2015). http://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/switching-white-flags-for-black-isil-and-afghan-taliban/78274.

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[52] “Two Pakistani soldiers hurt, Afghan guard killed in clash.” Dawn . (July 02, 2015). Accessed on October 16, 2015. http://www.dawn.com/news/1191777.

[53] “World drug Report of the UNODC 2014.” http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/World_Drug_Report_2014_web.pdf.

[54] Yousufzai, Raheemullah. “Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: A Pakistani Narrative.” PILDAT , Islmabad, Pakistan. (March 2011). http://www.pildat.org/Publications/publication/FP/Pak-AfghanParliamentarianDialoguePaper250311.pdf.

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[56] Zia, Asad. “Inclement weather: UNHCR to suspend refugee repatriation.” Express Tribune . (Nov 17, 2016).