The Afghan government is reviewing options to prevent the violations by Pakistan along the Durand Line, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said.
The ministry said the construction of a gate in Torkham is regrettable and against the enforced practice, calling it a move against the good neighborly relations.
Condemning the construction of the gate by Pakistan, MoFA said the move by the country is unilateral and against the previous agreements and commitments.
MoFA further added that the government of Afghanistan is strictly reviewing options to prevent the continued violations by Pakistan.
The construction of the gate by Pakistan comes as the two countries agreed last month to to form a high level bilateral mechanism for cooperation following deadly clashes in Torkham earlier this month.
The agreement for the constitution of the mechanism was reached during a meeting on the sidelines of SCO Summit in Tashken on Friday, attended by Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, National Security Adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar and Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz.
“Building upon the ideas generated in the meeting between Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in Islamabad on 20 June 2016, they agreed to constitute a high level bilateral mechanism for consultation and coordination on various important issues relating to bilateral relations and cooperation, including security, movement of people and vehicles between the two countries and other relevant issues,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement.
Tensions intensified among the Afghan and Pakistani forces earlier last month after the Afghan border forces prevented the Pakistani security forces to work on the construction of a gate in Torkham.
The two sides engaged in deadly clashes for at least three times before diplomatic efforts were put in place to resolve the issue through negotations.
Both the Afghan and Pakistani security forces suffered casualties during the clashes that led to the closure of the crossing.
The options available to Afghanistan are practically Nil. Pakistan know this and it is the reason that they are going ahead with the construction of more gates. The real purpose is not management of People, but to reemphasize their sovereignty on the land and legitimizing Durand Line.
Since Afghan taliban are in the control of Islamabad and the taps of terrorism can be on or off at will by Pakistan, they have an advantage. Further, financial support from China, USA and other muslim countries like Saudi and UAE, are helping Pakistan to consolidate their hold.
Afghanistan, unless accepts the supremacy of Pakistan and allow it to have strategic depth, do not have any options left other than fighting back in the short term. In the long term, they need to become stronger economically, militarly and build democratic institutions and educate the children with modern and secular education. Then in the long run, Afghanistan may come out of this problem. For that, Afghanistan should have the courage to implement education policy , trade policy and get co operation from friendly countries for investements.