§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the Russian Trans-Caspian Railway has been recently extended from Merv and Sarakhs to Khushk, within 60 miles of Herat; and whether Her Majesty's Government will propose to the Ameer of Afghanistan that the Indian Railway should be extended to Kandahar?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingIt is true that the Russian Trans-Caspian Railway has been recently extended to Khushk, in Russian territory. As to the construction of railways in Afghanistan I can give the honourable Member no assurance of the kind which he appears to desire. The Ameer has never shown any desire for the extension of railways within his dominions.