Relevance (UPSC): GS-II International Relations (Borders, Treaties), GS-I Geography (Political boundaries)

The Durand Line is a 2,640-km frontier running from the Wakhan Corridor in the north to Balochistan in the south, dividing today’s Pakistan from Afghanistan and bisecting Pashtun and Baloch homelands. It was created in 1893 when Sir Mortimer Durand and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan signed an agreement to separate British India’s sphere from Afghanistan’s. The line follows watersheds and passes through Khyber, Kurram, and Waziristan—areas where kinship ties routinely ignore maps.

Timeline at a Glance

• 1893: Durand Agreement fixes boundary between British India and Afghanistan.
• 1905–13: Minor clarifications and demarcation.
• 1919: Treaty of Rawalpindi ends Third Anglo-Afghan War; Afghanistan accepts prior frontier arrangements.
• 1921: Fresh treaty reiterates boundary understandings.
• 1947: Pakistan inherits the line under uti possidetis juris (new states keep colonial borders).
• 1949: Afghan Loya Jirga declares earlier treaties void; Kabul begins long-running Pashtunistan claim.
• 2001–present: Cross-border militancy, refugee flows, and Pakistan’s fencing intensify disputes; periodic clashes at Torkham and Spin Boldak.

Law, People, Politics

Pakistan treats the Durand Line as an international boundary by treaty succession. Afghanistan’s governments have variously called it an imposed line, arguing that colonial-era pacts lapsed; the Taliban have avoided formal recognition while policing crossings. On the ground, seasonal migration, trade, and insurgent movement blur the line’s authority.

Why it Matters for India

• Regional security: Turbulence along this frontier fuels terror networks affecting South Asia.
• Connectivity calculus: Instability complicates overland access to Central Asia (India focuses on Chabahar & International North–South Transport Corridor).
• Refugees and narcotics: Shocks along the line spill over into regional humanitarian and policing agendas.

Key Terms

• Uti possidetis juris: Inherit colonial borders
• Treaty succession: Obligations pass to successor states
• Pashtunistan: Ethno-nationalist demand
• De facto vs de jure control: Actual vs legal control
• Frontier tribes: Customary autonomy zones

Exam Hook

Angles to weave: colonial cartography vs modern sovereignty; treaty law; border governance (fencing, crossings, visas); people-to-people ties across segmented homelands.

UPSC Prelims Practice

The Durand Line was originally agreed between:

1. British India and Persia
2. British India and Afghanistan
3. Afghanistan and Russia
4. Pakistan and Afghanistan

Answer: (b)

One-line wrap: A cartographer’s stroke turned kin networks into two states’ problem—understanding the Durand Line shows how empire, law, and lived geography still collide in South Asia.