Effective border management

This is apropos a Business Recorder news item “State’s writ in Fata: Sartaj links it to border management” carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Afairs Sartaj Aziz has told the National Assembly that an effective border management is critical to establishing the government or state in the tribal areas of Pakistan. What he has told the parliament is nothing but truth. That Sartaj is a seasoned foreign affairs expert is a fact. The so-called ambiguity created by the Durand Line agreement between the then British India and Afghanistan since 19th Century needs to be removed without any further loss of time. The entire Pak-Afghan border needs to be characterized by crossings with a view to allowing exit and entry to travelers through proper documentations. The protests by Kabul in this regard are therefore not valid. Such arrangements would greatly help check the menaces of drugs and terrorism in an effective and meaningful manner. The argument that the then Afghan ruler, Emir Abdul Rahman, signed the border agreement under duress is not supported by historical evidence.

KARACHI NAQI ZAFAR