§ MR. A. O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the brigade now being organised for service in the Tochi Valley district of Waziristan, consisting of five regiments of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, with artillery consisting of mountain guns and five Maxims, is to be permanently maintained in that region, and if that territory is regarded as within British; when, how, and by what authority the transfer was effected; what has been the outlay since 1893 on land, forts, and cantonments needed for such location of British Indian troops, and what is the estimated amount required for maintenance of such troops beyond the frontier of British India; and from what funds is the cost of this occupation and maintenance of forces in Waziristan since 1893 to be defrayed?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIAI am unable, so long as the pending negotiations and arrangements with the tribes are incomplete, to give any information as to the disposition of forces which may be thought necessary hence-forward. As to the expenditure which has been already incurred for the purposes mentioned in the Question, I have asked for information, but have not yet received it. In any case the cost of such measures as may be adopted for the defence of the frontiers of India, and for the maintenance of peace and order upon those frontiers, will be defrayed in the future, as in the past, from Indian revenues.