The Fortnightly Review: No. CCCCLXIII, New Series [‎608v] (107/239)

76
THE MISSION TO CABUL.
existing treaties and the execution of a fresh compact would have
been better adapted to contemporary conditions than the literal
confirmation of the old agreement which, in effect, represents the
sole results of the Dane Mission. The Amir now holds the balance
of the scales between Eussia and India since the passing of twenty
years has borne witness to the rise of a stronger Afghanistan. A
corresponding change, too, has taken place in the position by
which Eussia is now distinguished in High Asia, and, with the
advance of Eussia and the rise of Afghanistan, it may be said that
the old order has disappeared. The prestige of the British raj is
no longer unchallenged ; while, if Eussia is politely contemptuous,
Afghanistan exists in a state of open defiance. The position of
Afghanistan, therefore, has become a determining factor in
Central Asian affairs to-day, making it incumbent upon us to
recast the lines upon which our policy towards the Amir is
fashioned. If the enforcement of a new policy were to precipitate
a rupture in our relations with Afghanistan there would be but
little difference between that situation and the one with which
we are now confronted. Sooner or later the Government of India
must take its stand against the presumption of the Amir of
Afghanistan. Postponement in the present state of our relations
with Afghanistan only increases the difficulty, and it would have
been better if the policy, which Lord Curzon is known to have
counselled, had been carried through at the present juncture.
Instead of a progressive policy, however, our recognition of the
significance of the change in the condition of Afghanistan threatens
to bring about the complete effacement of our interests at Cabul.
The partial eclipse of our prestige has already set in, and our
attitude, as evidenced by the recent mission, is altogether
cowardly. It may be questioned whether the confirmation of a
previous treaty can be described as promoting the effacement of
°! ir in ^ eles f s - It cannot be, perhaps, unless the confirmation was
all that could be secured, and was no other than what was
demanded originally.
When, at the latter end of last year, the mission to Cabul was
despatched, our relations with Afghanistan were not more un-
satisfactory than they have been at any time since the death of
Abdur Rahman, bor many years before that event, indeed from
he time when the rule of the late Amir became established
throughout his territory and the sweets of sovereignty were better
realised, and since the accession of his son, Habib Ullah, relations
‘wo Governments have been strained, in the main
owing to the curious interpretation of the existing agreements
between India and Afghanistan. Prom the view of Afghanistan
there may be nothing singular in their manner of regarding their