THE POSITION IN INDIA.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3176, 24 April 1879, Page 1

THE POSITION IN INDIA.

Referring to the operations i»! Afghanistan, the Englishman <Ca!<mtla) says: With Kabal held J>y a powerful English garrison, strong in cavalry .tad mountain artillery, Bamian and Khinjan might be ■ei«ed at any moment, and- Ukv passes of the Hindu Kush hermeUoallj closed against any effort from Turkestan. We believe that if England occupied Kabul, and fortified herself there, reconstructing the city so as to allow of the free passage of *rP°PB; though. 4|a streets, Russia would be compelled to Abandon all thoughts of making a serious attack from the valley of the Oxus. From Kabul a comparatively small force might close the passes of Bamian and Kbinjan, where strong forts would be as valuablo under smart officers as that of r Bard. With. Kabul and Kandahar, both held by the English, we should hare ao .question We should hare to depend solely; and confessedly on ourselves, and should hare, too, the advantage of position, and consequently the power of reinforcing Kandahar by way of Kurm and. Kabul from the, army of the Northern Punjaub. Such reinforcements pressing on to Ghazni would "threaten an enemy's communications with Furrab, and would by their ' mere presence "' prevent him from improving ' any defeat he might inflict upon the Kandahar army. The positions of Kabul,, and r " KanSahar, linked by the intermediate positions of Giha^ni and iKhela^i-Ghilii, ; are mutually supporting, They are the only positions in this part of Asia that are so. They form the true,, strategical frontier of India, and, therefore, the only frontier that can be called strictly scientific. If the English are content to occupy one point without the other, they will court disaster with their eyes wide open. No doubt an Afghan principality is a good thing, but under the circumstances whioh have arisen, England will best fulfil all conditions of the problem before her by making the security of India the one object to be attained, whilst yet the only enemy she need fear is too far off to interfere with ■ her: arrangements. Yakub Khan might be established at Balkh, Kundoz, or Herat, with a British guarantee against all comers, and a British resident to supervise, the aid given him to enable him to consolidate his power. With the line from Kandahar to Kabul in our possession and held strongly we might speedily reduce the: physical difficulties of the passes in our rear to the minimum, and with,double lines of_ railway connecting Peshawar and~ Scinde with each other and with Hindustan, we might shift the weight of our army to either flank as required. Of course, this supposes that the railway wouldbepushed on each flank as far to the front as possible,' In such a position,' properly tupported, India might set all Asia at defiance.