Pushtonistan is a problem Britain left over in its Asian Colonial aggression in modern times. British and Russian aggression and expansion in Asia and contest over Afghanistan offered an external origin for the rise of the Pushtonistan problem. In 1893, Britain forced Afghanistan to sign the Duran Treaty, setting the Duran Line as the dividing line between Britainsubordinate India and Afghanistan, only to lay a hidden trouble for the rise of the Pushtonistan problem. After the separation of India with Pakistan, the dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the status of the Pushtos to the east of the Duran Line and the belonging of the territory in this area was the primary cause for the occurrence of the problem. Therefore, the characteristics of the Pushto tribe, and ethnic relationship and policy with Pakistan and Afghanistan both affect the development and change of the Pushtonistan problem.

Britain; Afghanistan; Pakistan; the Duran Line; Pushtonistan