ON THE FRONTIER.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 936, 5 December 1933, Page 1

ON THE FRONTIER.

What Afghanistan Means to India. SOVIET INTRIGUE. The assassination of Nadir Shah, King of Afghanistan, vitally affects India, and therefore the British Empire, because it reawakens the problem of Soviet-Afghan relations. Given a new Government favourable to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, friction between India and the Soviet is quite possible (writes the military correspondent of the Melbourne “ Herald "). Nadir Shah, who replaced by a coup d’etat the bandit king, Bacha Sakao, about four years ago, has pursued a policy of amity with India, and has failed to respond to the blandishments of Soviet Trade Commissars in Northern Afghanistan, fully realising that their intrigues might lead to the alienation of those parts of his country north of the Hindu Kush. British Interest. British interest in Afghanistan is historical, and is traditionally founded cn the danger of Russia’s approach to India through her north-western gateway. To this day large earthworks dating from the time of Lord Roberts and the Russian scare of the ’eighties can be seen on the Kandahar Road, eight miles north of Quetta, on the Indian frontier. From that time British strategy has dictated the principle that Afghanistan should either be friendly to India, or sufficiently powerful to resist Russia. In recent years British methods have changed from the early task of preventing incursions of semi-savage bandit tribes into India in favour.of maintaining a stable Government in Afghanistan to serve as a buffer State. The southern tribes have remained strongly pro-Amanullah. and, despite the Government’s stability and good order previously, made several attempts to depose Nadir Shah. These have not been confined to Afghanistan, as is clear, for example, by the assassination of the Afghan Minister to Berlin. and the recent British Expedition to Bajaur. This was largely caused by the presence of a pro-Aman-ullah agent on the frontier, who, with the assistance of the Lewanai Fakir, a noted agitator, attempted to embarrass the Afghan Government within the borders of India itself, and thus foment international trouble. The last plot in Afghanistan itself was discovered about six months ago by Nadir Shah, who ruthlessly suppressed it, and finally executed three prominent pro-Amanullah leaders. Future Prospects. Future prospects depend on the strength of the southern tribes, none of whom Nadir Shah’s Government has been sufficiently powerful to disarm to any extent. A period of anarchy, such as followed the flight of Amanullah, may occur, but it is likely that the Afghan Army, whose pay the late Amir, with great forethought, always kept up-to-date—a strong card in Eastern politics—will remain loyal to his partv. If so, it seems improbable that the future policy of the Afghan Government will undergo any change.