§ MR. JAMES O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the Ameer of Cabul still receives an annual subsidy of 18 lakhs of rupees from the Government of India; and, if so, what service he renders in return; whether trade between India and Afghanistan is encouraged; and whether, in view of the threatened famine, the Government of India will withdraw the subsidy, if any, and apply it to the relief of distress.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe subsidy paid to the late Ameer has not been modified. It formed part of a general agreement between the Government of India and H. H. Abdur Rahman, under which various mutual advantages were obtained that cannot be set forth within the limits of an answer to a question; but I may refer the hon. Member to the agreement of 12th November, 1893, which was printed as a Command Paper in 1896. My answer to the last clause of the Question is in the negative, and I should add that there are, quite independent of the subsidy, ample funds for any distress that may occur in any part of India.