KABUL: Kabul on Thursday rejected reports that it has secretly recognized the disputed Durand Line as the official border with Pakistan to persuade Islamabad to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. The reports, citing Afghan analysts, emerged amid a series of visits by Pakistani and Afghan authorities aimed at restoring bilateral ties, and the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazalullah in a US drone strike in Afghanistan.
The reports coincided with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s announcement of a truce over the Eid period with the Afghan Taliban, which declared a three-day cease-fire but has resumed its attacks since Sunday night, killing dozens of troops.
An Afghan government delegation led by National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar visited Pakistan on Wednesday to discuss what Afghan officials said was implementation of security and peace plans reached months ago between the two countries.
The visit led to reports that Atmar had struck a deal with Pakistan to abandon Afghanistan’s historical claim over the Durand Line in return for Islamabad’s help in persuading the Taliban to begin talks with Kabul, and a vow to not derail parliamentary elections slated for October and the presidential vote next year.
“Baseless reports about the supposed Durand Line are changing hands on social media,” Atmar wrote, adding that no such discussions have taken place with any Pakistani official.
The Durand Line is an issue that belongs to all Afghans, and no government “has the right” to talk about it, he said.
The Durand Line Agreement was signed between British India and Afghanistan in 1893. Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has maintained that the treaty is binding and forms the border between it and Afghanistan.
But no Afghan government has recognized the line as the official border, and the issue has been a historical source of dispute between the two countries.
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Kabul rejects reports of secret border deal with Pakistan
Kabul rejects reports of secret border deal with Pakistan
- The Durand Line Agreement was signed between British India and Afghanistan in 1893
New hunt for flight MH370 ends with no clues to 12-year mystery
- The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing
KUALA LUMPUR: The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing 12 years ago in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries, concluded in January without yielding any findings, Malaysia’s transport ministry said on Sunday.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, while the others included Malaysians, Indonesians and Australians, as well as Indian, American, Dutch and French nationals.
Despite multiple searches, including the largest in aviation history, neither the aircraft, passengers nor black boxes have ever been found.
The latest search, which began in December, scoured an area of around 15,000 square kilometers but efforts “have not yielded any findings that confirm the location of the aircraft wreckage,” Malaysia’s transport ministry said in a statement.
Exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led the search which concluded on January 23.
Families of the Chinese passengers published an open letter on Sunday — the 12th anniversary of the flight’s disappearance — criticizing the lack of information they received during the latest search.
“We understand the difficulties of the search,” the relatives said in a joint open letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in which they thanked him for the initiative.
“However, since 15 January this year, families have received no further search briefings whatsoever.”
“Over the past two months, we have repeatedly contacted Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport through both Malaysia Airlines and the Chinese government, yet have received no response,” they said.
In an attempt to locate the aircraft, Ocean Infinity deployed autonomous underwater drones capable of diving to depths of up to 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).
The company conducted previous unsuccessful searches in 2018, as did Australia for three years until January 2017.
In their letter, the Chinese families added that “for 12 years, we have received virtually no genuine psychological support.”
“We ask for little: only to be seen, to be heard, and to be treated as individuals with emotions and dignity.”
The families are expected to be received by China’s foreign ministry on Monday, as they are every year, before visiting the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to deliver the letter for Anwar.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, while the others included Malaysians, Indonesians and Australians, as well as Indian, American, Dutch and French nationals.
Despite multiple searches, including the largest in aviation history, neither the aircraft, passengers nor black boxes have ever been found.
The latest search, which began in December, scoured an area of around 15,000 square kilometers but efforts “have not yielded any findings that confirm the location of the aircraft wreckage,” Malaysia’s transport ministry said in a statement.
Exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led the search which concluded on January 23.
Families of the Chinese passengers published an open letter on Sunday — the 12th anniversary of the flight’s disappearance — criticizing the lack of information they received during the latest search.
“We understand the difficulties of the search,” the relatives said in a joint open letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in which they thanked him for the initiative.
“However, since 15 January this year, families have received no further search briefings whatsoever.”
“Over the past two months, we have repeatedly contacted Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport through both Malaysia Airlines and the Chinese government, yet have received no response,” they said.
In an attempt to locate the aircraft, Ocean Infinity deployed autonomous underwater drones capable of diving to depths of up to 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).
The company conducted previous unsuccessful searches in 2018, as did Australia for three years until January 2017.
In their letter, the Chinese families added that “for 12 years, we have received virtually no genuine psychological support.”
“We ask for little: only to be seen, to be heard, and to be treated as individuals with emotions and dignity.”
The families are expected to be received by China’s foreign ministry on Monday, as they are every year, before visiting the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to deliver the letter for Anwar.
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