1950: Afghanistan
Area and Population.
Afghanistan is a completely land-locked country
of about 250,000 sq. mi. and some 7 to 12 million inhabitants,
mostly Mohammedans.
Foreign Relations.
Pakistan.
At the start of 1950, because of its border
dispute with Pakistan, Afghanistan found its outlets to the rest of
the world almost entirely closed on the east and south; alternate
routes through Iran and the Soviet Union were all but impracticable
for regular transport. In the border dispute, Afghanistan claimed
that the border tribes between Pakistan and Afghanistan should have
the right to establish an independent government (as Pushtunistan or
Pathanistan), while Pakistan maintained that no movement for
independence existed among the tribes; that they were incited by the
leaders and people of Afghanistan; and that, moreover, this entire
area had been included decades before in that part of India legally
known, since 1947, as Pakistan. As a result of these differences,
Pakistan in 1949 had discontinued the 50 per cent rebate on freight
charges for Afghan goods in transit through Pakistan. The Afghans
complained, moreover, that their imports were held up for
unreasonably long periods and that exports of fruit and other
perishable goods were ruined because of delay.
Although there was some talk in February of
setting up a resistance accord among Iran, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan, the relationship between the latter two countries seemed
only to worsen during 1950, with continued charges and
countercharges passing between them. In April neutral observers were
said to believe that settlement of the border problem required
diplomatic intervention by friendly powers. During the summer the
Shah of Iran was reported as offering to mediate the dispute, asking
the two countries to cease their hostile propaganda for an initial
period of three months. In October Pakistan charged that Afghanistan
had invaded the country but had fallen back when regular armed
forces of Pakistan came to the aid of the civil forces. Afghanistan
denied the charges. After further charges against the Afghans by
Pakistan on November 21, it was announced on December 1 that
Pakistan had received a communication from the United States
Government urging that country to seek a peaceful solution of its
border dispute with Afghanistan. A similar United States note was
believed to have been sent to the Afghanistan government.
United States.
In the postwar years the United States has held
a leading position in Afghanistan's export trade, purchasing most of
the country's output of karakul skins. Afghanistan has also
benefited for some time from the services of United States technical
and economic experts and from a $17 million public-works program
which is being carried on by an American firm. Of this amount, $7
million is being expended for roads and irrigation, and over $3.5
million for heavy American-built equipment. In July 1950 the Soviet
press charged that United States specialists were building military
roads in Afghanistan. The United States Government, in denying the
charge, pointed to the fact that the company engaged in the
public-works program had constructed a road some 80 mi. long
entirely as part of its irrigation project.
Despite American assistance, however,
considerable resentment exists in Afghanistan over the failure of
the Western Powers to support the Afghans in their dispute with
Pakistan, and the government is reported as feeling that United
States co-operation with Great Britain in world affairs eliminated
America as a nation that could understand and sympathize with
Afghanistan's border predicament. Even a credit of $21 million,
received late in 1949 from the United States Export-Import Bank, was
a disappointment, since the money was allocated for public works, as
a condition of the loan, and Afghanistan had wanted military aid. It
was announced in June 1950 that, following the visit of an
exploratory commission from the United States, a team of experts in
the fields of economics, soil development, livestock, raw materials,
oil, and public administration would be sent to Afghanistan to stay
for several months.
Soviet Union.
There was some indication during 1950 that
Afghanistan was turning toward a closer relationship with the Soviet
Union, reversing its old anti-Russian policy, possibly as a result
of the Western attitude concerning the Afghan-Pakistan border
question. In January it was reported that Afghanistan had recently
employed Soviet technicians and that the first official Russian
trade mission in the history of the two countries was in the
capital, Kabul. In July an Afghan trade mission to Moscow concluded
a four-year trade treaty with the Soviet Union.
Iran.
Early in 1950 Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of
Afghanistan, paid state visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and
Iran. In September an agreement was reached between Afghanistan and
Iran to send a neutral commission to the two countries to seek a
mutually satisfactory method for the distribution of the waters of
the Helmand River.
United Nations.
In July, communicating with the United States
in reply to the United Nations' request for aid in the Korean War,
Afghanistan reaffirmed its opposition to aggression but asked to be
excused, because of border troubles, from giving any help in South
Korea. In the same month the U.N. International Children's Emergency
Fund announced the signing of an agreement with Afghanistan for the
operation of a $100,000 medical-aid program, designed to lower
infant mortality and to train more child-health personnel in that
country.
Currency Position.
During 1949, because of its border dispute, Afghanistan suffered
seriously from a shortage of foreign exchange, and its currency
position was definitely weakened. When the pound sterling was
devalued, the afghani was also devalued, and thus the nation entered
1950 in a condition of domestic and foreign turmoil. The continuing
lack of foreign trade throughout the year resulted in a further
burden being imposed on the economy of Afghanistan.
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