New Delhi, Feb. 27 -- Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Deputy Foreign Minister of the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan, recently stated that if Pakistan sustains its policy of coercing the Pashtuns into acknowledging the British-drawn Durand Line, then it is likely for it to invite a similar situation as the one in 1971, which led to the formation of Bangladesh after the breakup of Pakistan.

Stankizai tried to draw a parallel to the mass exodus of people from Bangladesh into India from then East Pakistan that led to the Liberation War for Bangladesh. He compared the event to the recent exodus of Afghans from Pakistan which had been initiated in mid-September 2023. The Pakistani government had given a final ultimatum to the so-called undocumen...