Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is very unhappy over the handover of a purpose-built border crossing facility in South Waziristan Agency to Afghan authorities.
The development came a day after the military said that the Angoor Adda border crossing facility was handed over to the Afghan authorities “to strengthen brotherly relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and with a strategic intent to improve border management”.
“It was reiterated during the process, that all border-related issues will be amicably resolved through mutual consultations subsequently,” the military’s media wing said in a statement on Saturday.
However, a source said that the interior minister has voiced his reservations over the move in a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. All constitutional and legal procedures set for such decisions have been violated blatantly, reads the letter. “There are very clear rules which should be followed before taking such important decisions.”
Nisar said in the letter that the interior ministry was a big stakeholder in matters related to border management, border control or protection of borders. Notwithstanding, the ministry was ignored while handing over the Angoor Adda border crossing facility to Afghan authorities.
The minister said he had a lot of questions about how the facility was handed over to Afghan authorities. “The government is the custodian of each and every inch of the motherland. We must follow the legal procedures if we have to take such decisions,” he said in the letter.
Nisar added that he would wait anxiously for the prime minister’s return to take up the matter with him.
On May 13, Kabul and Islamabad agreed to reopen the Torkham border crossing which was closed after Afghan forces blocked a move by Pakistani authorities to fence the border, leaving thousands of people and vehicles stranded on both sides of the Durand Line.
Pakistan has repeatedly floated proposals for better border management in order to curb illegal movement, but the response from Kabul has always been lukewarm. Cross-border movement of militants is one of the key sticking points in Pak-Afghan relations. The two countries accuse each other of failing to maintain strict border controls.
