Treaty of Rawalpindi - Hundred Years On

The Treaty of Rawalpindi concluded in August 1919 between the British India and Afghanistan, in the aftermath of the brief Anglo-Afghan war earlier that year, was a watershed moment in the British India’s “frontier question” and emergence of an independent Afghanistan. The Treaty holds immense legal and political value in the development of Afghanistan and its relations with Pakistan after 1947. However, only a scant attention has been devoted to this landmark Treaty by the academics and practitioners alike. In addition to explicitly recognizing Afghanistan’s independence, the Treaty, once and for all, settled the question of British India’s western boundary with Afghanistan, which was earlier established in 1893 in Durand Line Agreement. This working paper fills the gap in existing literature by shedding light on the circumstances that led to the Treaty of Rawalpindi and its legal and political significance for Afghanistan and Pakistan and their bilateral relations.