Recommendations for Enhanced Cross-Border Security for Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan
10 July 2009
Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Baluchistan and Southern Afghanistan are currently plagued by warfare and criminal activity. Transecting these regions are transit routes of considerable strategic importance. The migration of refugees, narcotics trafficking, weapons and human smuggling and cross-border infiltration by militants in these areas exerts considerable pressure on the governments of the region in securing their borders. This not only affects inter-governmental relations but also the safe and legal transit of energy, goods and people.
On 24 and 25 March 2009, RUSI convened in partnership with the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) a closed-door meeting of senior Pakistani and Afghan defence and security experts and academics in Bahrain to discuss regional cross-border security concerns. This document encompasses the discourse that took place and is a record of the views shared and recommendations proposed by the participants.