It was always clear that border control along the Durrand line would be a difficult feat. The historically fluid state of affairs along Pakistan’s western borders would naturally resist any attempts to formalise border crossings. Of course, the main reason behind this is common ethnolinguistic populations on both sides of the border. Tribal bonds that cut across borders are not at all easy to circumscribe within geographical bounds of the nation state. Moreover, the transnational economy — rarely formal — that had entrenched itself because of fluid borders even further militates against a smooth transition to closed borders.
However, security imperatives necessitated achieving full border control. Military officials have repeatedly pointed to the transnational character of militancy in Pakistan in which several militant organisations operating in Pakistan use Afghan soil as their base of operations. Moreover, the concern had increased manifold given the success of the military operation Zarb-e-Azb in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Once the tribal areas were cleared, particularly North Waziristan, there was always the risk that remaining militants would run away to Afghanistan and reorganise themselves there. Of course, a physical presence of Pakistani troops in Afghanistan is not an option, and hence it became necessary to monitor and control any movement of people to and from Afghanistan.
It was for this reason that the gate was constructed at Torkham border amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan and even deadly clashes of security forces. There are further plans to create similar mechanisms at the six main crossing points between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan government also made it mandatory for Afghan nationals crossing into Pakistan to be in possession of an Afghan passport carrying a valid Pakistani visa. This, to a great extent, regularised border crossings and brought them under the control of the Pakistani government. And in the latest measure, the government has made it mandatory for Pakistanis crossing into Afghanistan to be in possession of a Pakistani passport. This replaced the earlier measure in which Pakistani nationals only had to carry their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) with them because there were reports of fake CNICs being made in Afghanistan. All of this is surely commendable, and it goes to show that the government is taking concrete steps to address the illegal border crossing issue.
However, all of these measures also need to be complemented with astute diplomacy at the top. After all, a friendly Kabul is the only key to a lasting and sustainable solution to the scrounge of transnational terrorism. Intelligence sharing and cooperation between the security forces of the two states would greatly make border control and surveillance easy, and perhaps this should be the next step that the government should look towards. It may look unlikely in the short run given Kabul’s leaning towards Delhi, but it is time to move beyond zero sum calculations and redefine Pakistan’s national interest in a broader, long-term perspective. http://dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/05-Jan-17/pakistan-afghanistan-border
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