MR. J. H. ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will state what is the estimated cost of the reconstruction of the forts in the Khyber Pass, and what is the probable cost of the proposed construction of fortified posts in the Lundi Kotal, at the western extremity of the Pass, together with the proposed strengthening of Kila Drash, on the Chitral Road; and whether this renewed permanent outlay beyond the frontier of Her Majesty's Indian Possessions is in accordance with the dispatches of the Government of India laid before Parliament in February last?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)Nothing has yet been settled as to the reconstruction of the fortified posts in the Khyber or the post at Kila Drash. Any necessary outlay on these posts would not be inconsistent with the policy laid down hi my dispatch of the 28th January last.