Islamabad -UNS : The recent remarks by Afghanistan’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Mawlawi Ataullah Omari, during an official visit to India have sparked debate across South Asia. Addressing an event in India, Omari said he did not feel like he was in a foreign country, adding that “this is our own land and our DNA is the same.”
While many viewed the statement as a diplomatic expression of cultural closeness, experts say the issue is far more complex when examined through the lens of genetics.
DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is the biological material that carries hereditary information passed from parents to their children. Scientists estimate that about 99.9 percent of human DNA is identical worldwide, while the remaining 0.1 percent accounts for individual and population-level genetic differences.
According to leading geneticist David Reich of Harvard University, modern human populations are the result of repeated migrations and genetic mixing over thousands of years. As a result, scientists increasingly focus on ancestry and population history rather than traditional concepts of race.
South Asia is considered one of the most genetically diverse regions in the world. The area encompassing present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka has experienced centuries of migration, trade, conquest and cultural exchange. These movements have contributed to a shared yet highly diverse genetic landscape.
Researchers note that Afghanistan’s strategic location at the crossroads of Central, South and West Asia has made it a meeting point for numerous populations. Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmens and other ethnic groups within Afghanistan each possess distinct genetic characteristics, reflecting different historical influences.
Similarly, India’s genetic makeup has been shaped by multiple waves of migration and interaction. Ancient hunter-gatherer communities, early agricultural populations from regions near present-day Iran, and later migrations from Central Asia all contributed to the formation of modern South Asian populations.
A landmark 2019 study led by Harvard researcher Vagheesh Narasimhan suggested that farming communities from the Zagros Mountains in present-day Iran began moving into South Asia around 7,500 BCE, contributing to the development of early settlements in the Indus Valley. Subsequent mixing among indigenous groups, agricultural populations and later migrants produced the genetic diversity seen today.
Experts emphasize that there is no single DNA profile that defines Afghanistan, India or South Asia as a whole. Instead, the region is characterized by a rich mosaic of ancestries and genetic lineages.
Therefore, while Afghans and Indians share elements of a common historical and genetic heritage, scientific evidence does not support the notion that both populations possess the “same DNA.” Rather, they are linked through centuries of interaction, migration and cultural exchange, while retaining distinct and diverse genetic identities.
