ABSTRACT
Nothing serious has happened since that date to interfere with, or mar, an understanding of this character between Britain and Soviet Russia, while much has been done to confirm it. Now that this friendly agreement has been reached at Moscow, there is no reason to doubt the pacific intention of Soviet Russia concerning India, which was included in the general statement quoted above. This means that, in practice, there is no longer any justification for keeping a British Army of such magnitude on a war footing on the North-West Frontier, with the ostensible object of protecting India against a Russian invasion. To do so is to show the old
distrust of Russia's intentions which was at the back of the whole foreign policy of Britain in India during the nineteenth century. A unique opportunity has come for reducing this military force of Great Britain and thus diminishing at the same time the excessive burden on India which eats up her financial resources.
