THE PAK-AFGHAN ISSUE
Pakistan's Perspective
HISTORY BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS
Pakistan and Afghanistan on the World Map
Relations between the two countries have been strained since 1947, when Pakistan gained independence in 1947, Afghanistan was the sole country to vote against Pakistan's admission into the UN. The countries geographically, are placed right next to each other sharing a border of 1500 miles along the west of Pakistan which though can be utilized in some great trade and economical development however, such has not been the case. Instead what we find is a series of extremist acts and flow of terrorism in and out of the countries. The question raises, who is to blame for such unrest in the area? Is it Afghanistan, Pakistan or the US.
"THE INSEPARABLE BROTHERS"
One of the major reasons for why Pakistan and Afghanistan haven't ever gotten along is because of the positioning of the border or some say 'Durand Line'. The Afghans since 1947 have claimed that part of the area in Pakistan was there territory. Pakistan when formed gave an open option to states if the wished to join it or not. This area (KPK) chose to be with Pakistan which the Afghan government since then has rejected, as a result Afghans in the 1960s cut all ties with Pakistan until the give them this area.
Area that Afghanistan claims that belongs to them
US INTERVENTION
During the Cold War when USSR or Russia was expanding it's reach eastwards, coming closer to the warm Arabs water in Middle East. In Afghanistan the government had failed, hence an Islamic group headed by spiritual leaders in the area, tried to rise up. US was concerned that gaining access to those waters will give Russian Troops new boundaries. In an attempt to stop this invasion from moving forward the US tried to utilize the Islamic group in Afghanistan and use them as a fighting force for there homeland.
AFGHAN REFUGEES
Afghan refugees in Pakistan
The war in Afghanistan or some would say "The US war in Afghanistan" started mainly in 2001, an attempt of the US and the allies to try to drive the Talibans (extremist group) out of the region and deny them a safe place to run their operations. Pakistan had been since 1971 accusing Afghanistan for the extremist acts in the region which though were denied at the time but were found to be true later. The war though had favorable results from a US or alliance point of view, however it led to many Afghanis being homeless and moving to Pakistan for safety. Pakistan being the 4th largest country in terms of hosting refugees, a large portion of Afghanis (1,392,600) were provided shelter and a safe home to stay in.
'No sympathy for Afghan migrants' President Ashraf Ghani - BBC News
THE WAR TODAY!
Though peace has been brought in the region to an extend, recent terrorist activities in late 2016 has created more issues. With the UN refugee agency declaring that funding for refugees will stop and that Afghans in Pakistan should go back to there homeland, has lead to many Afghanis staying back illegally. They apart from extremism chose a different yet affective sight of social unrest where they became drug dealers, robbers and most importantly creating a united alliance of afghans within the Pakistani region who started the campaign of giving a part of Pakistan (KPK) regions to Afghanistan. This lead to military inference in that region to stop this movement and many afghans being forcefully sent back.
Repatriation of Afghan refugee in Pakistan resumes