Editing Mohammad Daoud Khan (section)

== Royal Prime Minister ==
{{Further|Prime Minister of Afghanistan}}
Khan was appointed [[prime minister]] in September 1953 through an intra-family transfer of power, replacing [[Shah Mahmud Khan]]. His ten-year tenure was noted for his foreign policy turn to the [[Soviet Union]], the completion of the [[Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority|Helmand Valley project]], which dramatically improved living conditions in southwestern Afghanistan, as well as tentative steps towards the emancipation of women, giving women a higher public presence,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e488|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111134141/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e488|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 2018|title=Daoud Khan, Muhammad – Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan|title=A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan|date=4 May 2011|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us|access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref> which led to significant amounts of freedom and educational opportunities for them.<ref name="Rostami-Povey">{{cite book|last=Rostami-Povey|first=Elaheh|title=Afghan Women: Identity and Invasion|date=2007|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-84277-856-2}}</ref>

With the creation of an independent [[Pakistan]] in August 1947, Prime Minister Daoud Khan had rejected the [[Durand Line]], which had been accepted as international border by successive Afghan governments for over a half a century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giwiAwAAQBAJ&q=The+subsequent+Afghan+rulers+accepted+the+agreement+and+the+boundary+has+been|title=The Middle East in World Politics (Routledge Revivals)|page=144|last=Ayub|first=Mohammed|date=2014|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317811282}}</ref> Khan supported a nationalistic reunification of the Pakistani [[Pashtun people]] with Afghanistan, but this would have involved taking a considerable amount of territory from the new nation of [[Pakistan]] and was in direct opposition to an older plan of the 1940s whereby a confederation between the two countries was proposed. The move further worried the non-Pashtun populations of Afghanistan such as the minority [[Hazara people|Hazara]], [[Tajik people|Tajik]], and [[Uzbek people|Uzbek]], who suspected his intention was to increase the Pashtuns' disproportionate hold on political power.<ref name="cjk"/>

[[Bacha Khan|Abdul Ghaffar Khan]] (founder of [[Khudai Khidmatgar]] movement), stated "that Daoud Khan only exploited the idea of reunification of Pashtun people to meet his own political ends. The idea of reunification of Pashtun people never helped Pashtuns and it only caused trouble for Pakistan. In fact it was never a reality".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31|title=Everything in Afghanistan is done in the name of religion: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan|accessdate=13 January 2014|magazine=India Today}}</ref> Moreover, Daoud Khan's project for the reunification of the Pashtun people failed to gain support from the majority of [[Pashtuns]] in [[Pakistan]].<ref name="cjk">{{cite book|last=Tomsen|first=Peter|title=The Wars of Afghanistan:Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflict, and the Failures of Great Powers|date=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86w4DgAAQBAJ|publisher=Hachette UK|isbn=978-1610394123}}</ref>

In 1960, Khan [[Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes|sent troops]] across the poorly-marked Durand Line into the [[Bajaur Agency]] of Pakistan in an attempt to manipulate events in that area and to press the Pashtunistan issue, but the Afghan forces were defeated by the Pashtun Tribal militias. During this period, the propaganda war from Afghanistan, carried on by radio, was relentless.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/26.htm |title=Afghanistan – Daoud as Prime Minister, 1953–63 |publisher=Countrystudies.us |date=1961-09-06 |accessdate=2013-07-29}}</ref> In 1961, Daoud Khan made another attempt to invade Bajaur with larger Afghan army this time. However, Pakistan employed [[F-86 Sabres]] jets which inflicted heavy casualties against the Afghan army unit and the tribesmen from [[Kunar province]] who were supporting the Afghan army. Several Afghan soldiers were also captured and were paraded in front of international media, which in turn caused embarrassment for Daoud Khan.<ref name="cjk"/>

In 1961, as a result of his policies and support to militias in areas along the Durand Line, Pakistan closed its borders with Afghanistan and the latter severed ties, causing an economic crisis and greater dependence on the [[USSR]]. The USSR became Afghanistan's principal trading partner. Within a few months, the USSR sent jet [[airplane]]s, [[tank]]s, [[heavy artillery|heavy]] and [[light artillery]], for a heavily discounted price tag of $25 million, to Afghanistan. That same year he attended the [[1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement]] in [[Belgrade]] making Afghanistan one of the founding members of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]].

As a result of continued resentment against Daoud's [[autocratic rule]], close ties with the USSR and economic downturn because of the blockade imposed by Pakistan, Daoud Khan was asked to resign. Instead of resigning, Daoud Khan requested King [[Zahir Shah]] to approve new 'one-party constitution' proposed by him which would in turn increase Daoud Khan's already considerable power. Upon rejection, Daoud Khan angrily resigned.<ref name="cjk"/>

The crisis was finally resolved with his forced resignation in March 1963 and the re-opening of the border in May. Pakistan continued to remain suspicious of Afghan intentions and Daoud's policy left a negative impression in the eyes of many Tajiks who felt they were being disenfranchised for the sake of [[Pashtun nationalism]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Mohammad Daud Khan |url=https://www.khaama.com/mohammad-daud-khan/ |website=The Khaama Press News Agency |date=15 February 2010|last1=Says |first1=Rahmat Hamid }}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Mohammad Yusuf (politician)|Mohammad Yusuf]].

In 1964, King Zahir Shah introduced a [[1964 Constitution of Afghanistan|new constitution]], for the first time excluding all members of the royal family from the Council of Ministers. Khan had already stepped down. In addition to having been prime minister, he had also held the portfolios of Minister of Defense and Minister of Planning until 1963.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}