§ VISCOUNT BRYCE had the following Question on the Paper—
§ To ask the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Imperial Russian Government made proposals to His Majesty's Government in 1915 to include within the Russian zone in Persia a wedge of territory lying between the Russian and Afghan frontiers; whether the Russian Government raised at the same time the question of solving certain problems in the districts of Northern Afghanistan adjoining Russian territory; what was the nature of those problems; and whether the, integrity of the Ameer's territories was in any way affected.
§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, it is unnecessary for me, in putting this Question to the Government, to say more than this, that I believe certain documents have been published at Petrograd which relate to communications that have passed on the topics mentioned in the Question. Therefore it seems to me desirable to give His Majesty's Government an opportunity of explaining anything which might otherwise be misunderstood with regard to the contents of the document. I hope that they will be able to make an explanation in that sense.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (LORD ISLINGTON)My Lords, I am glad of the opportunity afforded me by my noble friend to make a brief statement which will enable me to allay and to remove any misunderstanding that may have arisen from the publication of the Papers alluded to in the Question and the remarks of the noble Viscount. I may explain that a Memorandum addressed to His Majesty's Government by the Russian Ambassador on March 22, 1915, in connection with the ultimate terms of peace, suggested among other matters that the 411 Russian zone in Persia—that is, the sphere defined in Article I of the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, in which, as noble Lords will remember, the predominance of Russian interests was recognised—should be slightly readjusted so as to transfer from the neutral to the Russian zone a small area in the neighbourhood of the Russian and Afghan frontiers. This proposal, had it been carried out, would not have affected Afghan territorial interests. But in fact His Majesty's Government never found occasion to reply to the Russian Memorandum, nor were the proposals contained in it discussed between the two Governments. An opportunity was subsequently taken, in the course of correspondence with the Ameer of Afghanistan, to give him a formal assurance that no proposal affecting the interests of his country would be made or agreed to at the Peace Conference. To that undertaking His Majesty's Government have always adhered and intend to adhere. This Memorandum of the Russian Government also suggested a settlement of certain proposals for improving the irrigation of Russian territory adjoining Afghanistan, which had been made by the Russian Government before the war. These proposals never came to a head and could not have been carried into effect without the Ameer's consent. No proposal affecting the territorial integrity of Afghanistan has been made either in the Memorandum or elsewhere.