Pashtun leaders highlight presence of 2.5 million Afghans in Pakistan, urge clarity on border issue

Lahore (Web Desk): The issue of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has once again sparked a heated debate. This time, the Pashtuns themselves have brought forward the truth regarding the population ratio of Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 Their stance is that there are significantly more Pashtuns in Pakistan than in Afghanistan, making any border dispute based on Pashtun nationalism baseless.

According to statistics, around 2.5 million Afghan citizens currently reside in Pakistan, with the majority not wishing to return to Afghanistan. Analysts argue that if Afghans themselves are choosing to stay in Pakistan, how could any Pakistani desire to become Afghan?

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General (R) Ehsan Ul Haq, had taken a clear stance on this issue fifteen years ago, stating that if the Durand Line were to be defined based on Pashtun demographics, then even Kabul would fall within Pakistan's territory, and Afghanistan would bear the loss.

He also mentioned that certain vested interests in Kabul intentionally raise this issue to divert attention from Afghanistan's internal problems. According to General Ehsan Ul Haq, Afghanistan has never been a completely sovereign state historically. Instead, it has often been ruled by powers from Delhi, Isfahan, Bukhara, Samarkand, and other Central Asian rulers.

This new development once again brings to the forefront the complexities of the border dispute, along with the broader historical and ethnic context that influences the ongoing tensions between the two nations.