§ 4. Mr. Dayasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will give 1660 particulars of the latest report received on the conditions in Waziristan, North-West Frontier; the number of British and Indian forces that are at present concentrated in that area; and the approximate cost to date of the operations there?
Lord StanleyI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the question asked by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Lewes (Rear-Admiral Beamish) on 8th November, and to the communique subsequently issued by the Government of India on 17th November, of which I will send him a copy. Reports since that date indicate that there is now a good prospect of a settlement with the Bhittanni tribe. It is understood that the troops employed in the area, the number of which is given in the communique, are now being gradually reduced, with a view to reverting to the normal garrison; and that the cost of the operations up to the end of October was about £1,200,000