See also: 1953 in Afghanistan

1953 in Afghanistan

See also: 1952 in Afghanistan, other events of 1953, and 1954 in Afghanistan.----The Kabul government sends a strongly worded note of protest to Karachi over the bombing of the tribal villages in the Afridi area, pointing out that such bombing breaks the Anglo-Afghan agreement under which both...

, other events of 1954, and 1955 in Afghanistan

1955 in Afghanistan

See also: 1954 in Afghanistan, other events of 1955, and 1956 in Afghanistan.----Pakistan-Afghan relations remain marred by the continued support given by the Kabul government to the Pashtu people of the former North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan in their so-called demand for self-determination...

.
----
The Export-Import Bank of the United States

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The Export-Import Bank of the United States is the official export credit agency of the United States federal government. It was established in 1934 by an executive order, and made an independent agency in the Executive branch by Congress in 1945, for the purposes of financing and insuring...

 lends $18,500,000 to Afghanistan to help buy the U.S. material, equipment, and services for the Helmand river valley development project.

January 5, 1954

The Pakistani government orders the release of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the 63-year-old leader of the Red Shirts (Khudai Khidmatgar

Khudai Khidmatgar

Khudai Khidmatgar literally translates as the servants of God, represented a non-violent freedom struggle against the British Empire by the Pashtuns of the North-West Frontier Province....

s), who had been detained at Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

 since June 1948, on a charge of championing the cause of Pashtunistan

Pashtunistan

Pakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...

, i.e., the establishment within the northwest frontiers of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 of a Pashtu-speaking province united with Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. About 45 other persons detained for the same reason are set free, but Abdul Ghaffar Khan is to reside in Punjab

Punjab (Pakistan)

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

.

January 27, 1954

An agreement is signed at Kabul by Mikhail V. Degtyar, the Soviet ambassador, and Abdul Malik, the Afghan minister of finance, under which the U.S.S.R. grants Afghanistan a loan of $3,500,000, at 3.5% interest, for the construction at Kabul of a grain elevator of 20,000 tons, of a flour mill with a capacity for grinding 60 tons of wheat in 24 hours, and of a mechanized bakery capable of converting 50 tons of flour into bread every 24 hours. Another grain elevator of similar capacity is to be constructed at Puli Khumri. The cost of both elevators is estimated at $8,000,000.

February 2, 1954

An Afghan cultural mission arrives in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. Its leader, Ali Ahmad Popal, deputy minister of education, says that the military pact between the U.S. and Pakistan will bring war nearer to Afghan frontiers.

Spring 1954

The construction of a 100-km pipeline from Termez (Uzbek S.S.R.) to Mazar-i-Sharif is started by Soviet technicians; it will have an annual delivery capacity of 30,000,000 gal. of gasoline.

May 1954

A foreign investment law granting capital from abroad equal treatment with national capital is promulgated. It makes provision for the transfer of profits abroad after payment of income tax, for the repatriation of capital, and for the transfer abroad of up to 70% of salaries of the foreign employees.

Summer 1954

Extensive oil deposits in northern Afghanistan are further surveyed by Swiss technicians. As the oil fields are near Shibarghan, about 145 km from the Soviet frontier, the Moscow government urges the Kabul government to develop them either by an Afghan-Soviet company or with financial and technical aid derived from countries which are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

October 6, 1954

Another loan of $2,100,000 is granted for buying industrial equipment in the U.S.S.R.