The fencing of Pak Afghan Border has remained a top debate for years now. The fencing of the 2,640 km land border with Afghanistan began in March 2017 after a spate of attacks from across the porous border. Despite multiple disagreements shown by the Afghan government, Pakistan has kept working steadily on the border fencing as it is the only viable solution to this porous border. In the wake of emerging uncertainty in Afghanistan due to the exodus of the US troops, Pakistan on Saturday announced that it would complete the fencing of its border with the war-torn country, Afghanistan, by the end of June.
88% of the said fencing of Pak Afghan border has been accomplished, the rest will be completed by June 30, 2021, said, Minister of Interior, Sheik Rasheed. Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated this on the floor of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, the Dawn newspaper reported. The minister informed the lower house of parliament that 88% of work on the fencing of the border with Afghanistan has been completed and the “rest would be completed by June 30”, it said.
Inter-Services Public Relations, or ISPR, said the barrier has already been installed along “about 83%” of the western Pakistani frontier. Additionally, hundreds of new outposts and forts have been built under the roughly $500 million program.
The pair of three-meter-high mesh fences, a couple of meters apart, are filled and topped with coils of razor wire, running through rugged terrain and snow-covered, treacherous mountains at elevations as high as 4,000 meters.
The ISPR attributed a “massive decrease” in the number of terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan to the border security project. This fencing of Pak Afghan border has stopped multiple insurgencies that were previously an easy game for terrorists. Pakistani troops involved in building the fence have also come under deadly militant attacks from the Afghan side and in some cases clashes with Afghan security forces.
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Afghanistan, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the Afghan Taliban militants who are battling the Western-backed government in Kabul. Both countries deny the charges.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s military conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan district near Afghanistan, killing two “terrorists” which it says “were active members of the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan].”
“[They were] involved in terrorist activities against Security Forces,” the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said in a statement.
Fencing of Pak Afghan Border – Impact on Politics and Business
A safe border with no unwanted transactions is always a positive sign. All the non-custom paid trades will see a decline, which is going to create more revenue for Pakistan in terms of Custom Duties. Politically, it will help Pakistan portray its safe image by controlling a porous border that otherwise had become a safe haven for the Taliban and Terrorists who conducted their operations inside Afghan territory.
The reason Afghanistan opposes this fence is that they have never accepted the integrity of this border since Pakistan’s inception. Their government is also under influence of multiple powers that do not want this border to be fenced. These interests are definitely not in Pakistan’s favor, nor in Afghanistan’s favor if looked closely.
What are your thoughts on the fencing of Pak Afghan border? Do let us know in the comment section.
