Last week’s comments from US Special Ambassador Marc Grossman have built up steam over the weekend, with the US State Department reiterating that it is believes the Afghan-Pakistan border is where it has always been and Afghan officials up in arms at the perceived betrayal.
Apparently unbeknownst to US officials the Afghan-Pakistan border, the Durand Line, is a contentious topic in Afghanistan, where officials are pretty sure that a good chunk of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) should belong to them.
Pakistan, of course, has a different opinion on the matter, and insists the border is exactly where it has been for almost 120 years, and that it is a “settled” issue. The Durand Line was drawn by British officials in the late 19th century.
Afghan officials have been playing up the dispute all weekend, with even the Afghan government’s formal message for the Eid al-Adha holiday bringing up the matter, asking for “unity” to all Afghanistan “particularly to both sides of the Durand Line.” With 120 years of resentment behind the map, this could linger as a diplomatic problem for the US for awhile.
