Afgh.

In the interviews of Sir Douglas Forsyth with the Russian Minister of War and the Minister of the Asiatic Department it was agreed that Russia should respect as Afgh�nist�n all the Provinces which Sher Al� then held, that the Oxus should be the boundary line of Sher Al�'s dominions on the north, and that both England and Russia should do their best to prevent aggressions by the Asiatic States under their control.

It amounted, in their view, to a declaration that the British Government, while anxious to obtain the support of the Afgh�n Ruler, was willing to turn against that Ruler the moment that a rebel made head against him, and to transfer its friendship to the rebel Chief.

As a matter of fact, he was not only willing to recognise any successful claimant to the sovereignty of Afgh�nist�n; he was also willing to extend that recognition to even a partially successful claimant, to the extent which such a claimant might have succeeded in dismembering the country.

If Russia could intervene as the ally of Afgh�nist�n, and consolidate a sovereign power in that State, she would not only pose as the arbiter of Central Asia, but would also establish a commanding influence on the very frontier of India.

That no treaty will be entered into, obliging us under every circumstance to recognise him and his descendants as rulers of Afgh�nist�n.