HC Deb 31 July 1906 vol 162 cc696-7
SIR CHARLES DILKE

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether any expenditure for military protection is involved in the extension to Parachinar of the Kurran strategic railway and the making of the Kabul river strategic railway to the Afghan frontier.

*THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. MORLEY,) Montrose Burghs

An increase of the strength of the Khyber rifles by one British officer, 354 Infantry and 80 Sowars was sanctioned by the Secretary of State in Council in August 1905, in connection with the sanction given in the previous month to the construction of a line from a point near Jamrud to a point on the Kabul River known as Mile 300. The initial cost of the increase was Rs. 18,000, the estimated annual cost is Rs. 99,500. No proposal has been made for military protection in connection with the extension of the Kurran railway to Parachinar which was sanctioned in September 1904.