FOREIGN RELATIONS 

Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. In international forums, Afghanistan generally followed  the voting patterns of Asian and African non-aligned countries.  Following the Marxist coup of April 1978, the  Taraki Government developed significantly closer ties with the Soviet Union and its communist satellites. 
 
After the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan's foreign  policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union.  Afghan foreign  policy-makers attempted, with little success, to increase their regime's low standing in the non-communist world. With the signing of the Geneva accords, Najibullah  unsuccessfully sought to end Afghanistan's isolation within the Islamic world and in the Non-Aligned Movement. 
 
Most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in Kabul during the Soviet occupation.  Many subsequently closed their missions due to instability and heavy fighting in Kabul. Although a few states have reestablished a diplomatic  presence in Kabul, most embassies, including that of the United States, remain closed. 
 
Pakistan 
Two areas--Pashtunistan and Baluchistan--have long complicated Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan. Controversies involving these areas date back to the establishment of the Durand Line in 1893 dividing Pashtun and Baluch tribes living in Afghanistan from those living in what later became Pakistan.  Afghanistan vigorously protested the inclusion of Pashtun and Baluch areas 
within Pakistan without providing the inhabitants with an opportunity for self-determination.  Since 1947, this problem has led to incidents along the border, with extensive disruption of normal trade patterns.  The most serious crisis lasted from September 1961 to June 1963, 
when diplomatic, trade, transit, and consular relations between the countries were suspended. 
  The 1978 Marxist coup further strained relations between  the two countries.  Pakistan took the lead diplomatically  in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the  Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposing the  Soviet occupation.  During the war against the Soviet  occupation, Pakistan served as the primary logistical  conduit for the Afghan resistance.  Pakistan, aided by UN  agencies, private groups, and many friendly countries,  continues to provide refuge to about 1.4 million Afghans.   
Much of Afghanistan remains dependent on Pakistani links  for trade and travel to the outside world, and Pakistan  views Afghanistan as eventually becoming its primary  route for trade with Central Asia.   

Iran 
Afghanistan's relations with Iran have fluctuated over  the years, with periodic disputes over the water rights  of the Helmand River as the main issue of contention.   
Following the Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed,  relations deteriorated.  The Iranian consulate in Herat  closed, as did the Afghan consulate in Mashhad.  The  Iranians complained of periodic border violations  following the Soviet invasion.  In 1985, they urged  feuding Afghan Shi'a resistance groups to unite to oppose  the Soviets.  Iran supported the cause of the Afghan  resistance and provided limited financial and military  assistance to rebel leaders who pledged loyalty to the  Iranian vision of Islamic revolution.  Iran provides  refuge to about 2 million Afghans.   

Russia 
In the 19th century, Afghanistan served as a strategic  buffer state between czarist Russia and the British  Empire in the sub-continent.  Afghanistan's relations  with Moscow became more cordial after the Bolshevik  Revolution in 1917.  The Soviet Union was the first  country to establish diplomatic relations with  Afghanistan after the Third Anglo-Afghan war and signed  an Afghan-Soviet non-aggression pact in 1921, which also  provided for Afghan transit rights through the Soviet  Union.  Early Soviet assistance included financial aid,  aircraft and attendant technical personnel, and telegraph  operators.   
The Soviets began a major economic assistance program in  Afghanistan in the 1950s.  Between 1954 and 1978,  Afghanistan received more than $1 billion in Soviet aid,  including substantial military assistance.  In 1973, the  two countries announced a $200-million assistance  agreement on gas and oil development, trade, transport,  irrigation, and factory construction.  Following the 1979  invasion, the Soviets augmented their large aid  commitments to shore up the Afghan economy and rebuild  the Afghan military.  They provided the Karmal regime an  unprecedented $800 million.  The Soviet Union supported  the Najibullah regime even after the withdrawal of Soviet  troops in February 1989.  Today, unresolved questions  concerning Soviet MIA/POWs in Afghanistan remain an issue  between Russia and Afghanistan. 
 
Tajik rebels based in Afghanistan in July 1993 attacked a  Russian border outpost in Tajikistan, killing 25 Russians 

and prompting Russian retaliatory strikes which caused  extensive damage in northern Afghanistan.  Reports of  Afghan support for the Tajik rebels have led to cool  relations between the two countries.   

Tajikistan 
Afghanistan's relations with newly independent Tajikistan  have been complicated by ongoing political upheaval and  civil war in Tajikistan which spurred some 100,000 Tajiks  to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late 1992 and early  1993.  Tajik rebels seeking to overthrow the regime of  Russian-backed former communist Imamali Rahmanov began  operating from Afghan bases and recruiting Tajik refugees  into their ranks.  These rebels, reportedly aided by  Afghans and a number of foreign Islamic extremists,  conduct cross-border raids against Russian and Tajik  security posts and seek to infiltrate fighters and  materiel from Afghanistan into Tajikistan.