Established in the Hindu Kush in 1893, the Durand Line runs through the tribal lands between Afghanistan and British India. Following the Afghanistan-Pakistan peace talks in Doha, the Taliban's Defence Minister, Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, accused Pakistan of creating a false narrative about the Durand Line-- the international boundary line between both nations. Addressing the media, Mujahid stressed that the Durand Line was "imaginary" and was not discussed as part of the truce agreement between Kabul and Islamabad.
"The use of the term 'border' by the State of Qatar is not based on our agreement, and we have not consented to it. There is nothing regarding this in any agreement between us and them. The Durand Line represents the Afghans position, and it will never be called a 'border'. We have not reached any agreement with them on this matter, nor is this the work of any government. This is a matter of national identity, and the nation will decide on it," Mujahid said, according to Tolo News.
Following Afghanistan's protest, Qatar updated its official statement on the recent ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan by removing the word "border".
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs removed the phrase "on the border between the two brotherly countries", replacing it with "between the two brotherly countries" in the revised statement.
What Is the Durand Line?
Established in the Hindu Kush in 1893, the Durand Line runs through the tribal lands between Afghanistan and British India. In modern times, it has marked a 2,600-kilometre-long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is a product of the 19th-century Great Game between the Russian and British empires, in which Afghanistan was used as a buffer by the British against a feared Russian expansionism to its east.