__NOTOC__ The following lists events that happened during

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

in Afghanistan.

Incumbents

* Monarch - Mohammed Zahir Shah * Prime Minister - Mohammed Daoud Khan

April 1961

Prime Minister Sardar

Mohammad Daud Khan Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...

visits the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Nikita Khrushchev. They issue a statement of full mutual understanding and identity of long-range views.

June 1961

Mohammad Daud announces that his government seeks $700 million in aid from the United States and the U.S.S.R. to implement the second five-year plan, which aims at an increase of 8% to 10% annually in the

national income A variety of measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate total economic activity in a country or region, including gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), net national income (NNI), and adjusted nati ...

over the plan period. Industrial production is to rise 375% and

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

500%.

Late August 1961

Due to the controversy over

Pakhtunistan Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto, Pashto l ...

(or Pathanistan; the Afghan demand for

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

for about 7,000,000 members of border tribes), the Pakistan government closes Afghan consulates and trade missions in its territory. Afghanistan thereupon sets September 6, 1961, as a deadline for Pakistan to rescind the order. Pakistan does not.

September 1961

On September 3, 1961, Afghanistan seals its side of the border and on September 6, 1961, breaks relations. The consequences are far-reaching, as Afghanistan then demands that all trade, including U.S. economic aid, be channeled through Soviet access routes. Sixty percent of the Afghan population is Pakhtun (Pathan) and Afghanistan has steadfastly refused to accept the old Afghan- British Durand line of 1893 as a suitable permanent boundary between the Pathans of Afghanistan and of Pakistan, while Pakistan refused to draw a new frontier. Throughout 1961 the two nations exchanged charges, Afghanistan saying that Pakistan brutally suppressed tribal leaders and bombed them with U.S.-made aircraft, while Pakistan alleged that Afghan armed forces, using Soviet equipment, constantly violated the border. The Afghan representative to the United Nations, A.R. Pazhwak, strongly defended the concept of Pathan self-determination. Afghanistan completes its first five-year plan, with some sectors described as over-fulfilled. Daud attends the

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

conference of non-aligned nations, visiting Britain and West Germany first.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 In Afghanistan Afghanistan Years of the 20th century in Afghanistan Afghanistan 1960s in Afghanistan