Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf to visit Kabul this month to address Durand Line fencing dispute

Pakistan National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf is expected to visit Kabul later in January to address the raging tensions between the neighbouring countries over the issue of Durand Line fencing. As per reports from Pakistan state media Dawn, the decision to send Yusuf to the Afghanistan capital was taken during the high-level meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell on Thursday. The announcement comes after Pakistani military forces spokesperson Babar Iftikhar on Friday said that the "fencing alongside (the Durand Line) is...94% complete."

"A senior delegation of Pakistani officials, headed by the NSA, is scheduled to visit Afghanistan soon for further engagement with the Afghan (interim) government on all assistance-related prospects," The Dawn reported citing a statement from the meeting.

The date for the visit has not been finalised yet. Meanwhile, sources of PTI have indicated that the trip could take place around January 17-18. The development comes after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, earlier this week, assured that the issue of Durand Line would be "resolved peacefully" through diplomatic channels. "Certain miscreants are raising the issue unnecessarily but we are looking into it. We are in contact with the Afghan government. Hopefully, we would be able to resolve the issue diplomatically," PTI quoted Qureshi as saying at a presser in Islamabad on Monday.

Pakistan completed 94% fencing along Durand Line: Pak military official

It is pertinent to mention that the announcement of the meeting comes after Afghanistan state-run media, TOLO News, quoted Babar Iftikhar saying that the Line "is good for the security of the people on both sides." He also confirmed that the fencing of the 2,600 km-long fences with Afghanistan will be completed despite strict opposition from the Taliban. The border has remained a source of turmoil between Pakistan and the Taliban after Islamabad began to erect fences. Although Pakistan has claimed that it has mostly completed the work, the matter has erupted in a frequent spat between Islamabad and Kabul. Last week, the Taliban stopped the Pakistani military from building outposts in Nimroz province in Afghanistan, PTI reported. Reportedly, the Pakistan military had gone up to 15km inside Chahar Burjak district in Afghanistan to build check posts.

The international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Durand Line, has witnessed periodic skirmishes. On December 22, both sides were at loggerheads in the Nangarhar province after Pakistan reportedly completed 90% fencing work along the 2,670km border amid protests from Kabul. The line is named after Mortimer Durrand, who fixed the limits of British India in 1893 after consultation with the then Afghan government.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has reiterated its stance on the construction of barbed wire fences on the Durand Line. The militant group commander Sanaullah Sangin had stated that the Taliban "will not allow the fencing anytime, in any form... whatever they (Pakistan) did before, they did but we will not allow any more," TOLO News reported.

(With inputs from PTI)

Image: AP/@YusufMoeed/Twitter