In Afghan war, enter Sir Mortimer Durand - Reuters

When the British decided to define the outer limits of their Indian empire, they fudged the question. After two disastrous wars in Afghanistan, they sent the Foreign Secretary of India, Sir Mortimer Durand, to Kabul in 1893 to agree the limits of British and Afghan influence. The result was the Durand Line which Pakistan considers today as its border and Afghanistan refuses to recognise.

In a review of historical documents on the original 1893 agreement and published by RUSI (subscription), authors Bijan Omrani and Frank Ledwidge conclude that the Durand Line was never meant to be an international border.

The research paper argues that the agreement negotiated by Durand with Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman fixed only “the limit of their respective spheres of influence” rather than being a clear delineation of sovereignty. It quotes a memorandum written by Sir Denis Fitzpatrick, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab and therefore the most senior official overseeing the frontier at the time, writing in 1896 that:

But perhaps there is a need for outside, UN, mediation. This is too difficult an issue to be resolved by a few short words from the United States that “we see this as the internationally recognised boundary.” MORE,  In Afghan war, enter Sir Mortimer Durand - Myra MacDonald