Overview of Pakistan’s Afghan Policy and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Despite having geographic and demographic contiguity, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan ever since their inception have been uneasy at best. This paper encompasses a historical review of AfPak relations over the last 60-odd years; taking into account the Afghan disdain for the Durand Lineviewed as a colonial legacy bequeathed unjustly upon Pakistan- and subsequent developments which have further problematised the border issue, foreign power play in the regional context, the wide-ranging ramifications of Soviet-Afghan war for the neighbouring states, and the larger trust deficit between Afghanistan and Pakistan that regimented itself in the wake of this sequence of events. This chronological exposition, coupled with an account of the current political climate in Afghanistan, paves the way for policy recommendations for Pakistan.