The Status of Durand Line under International Law: An International Law Approach to the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier Dispute

The Durand Agreement, which gave birth to the Durand Line-the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of the most controversial issues for Afghanistan. This Agreement resulted in the annexation of a part of the territory of Afghanistan to British-India (now in Pakistan). Although, the agreement was concluded by the direct participation of the ruler of Afghanistan, the consecutive governments of Afghanistan, in particular, those after partition of British-India, refused to accept Durand Line as an international border. They asserted that the territory of Afghanistan extends beyond the Durand Line, thereby giving rise to a dispute with the neighboring state of Pakistan. What course of action should be adopted by the government and the people of Afghanistan within the contours of international law in order to resolve the border dispute with Pakistan is always being pertinent. This necessarily entails two significant arguments- (1) whether the disagreement over the Durand Border between Afghanistan and Pakistan falls in a “dispute” situation and (2) if there exists a legal dispute, how it should be settled. The paper, therefore, tries to examine above-mentioned arguments and suggests legal/practical solutions within the international law framework to prevent further conflict, thus taking a momentous pace towards regionalism.