IOR/L/PS/12/1960

The file is made up of correspondence generated as a result of complaints submitted by the Government of Afghanistan to the Government of India, via the British Legation at Kabul. These complaints concern allegations of violations of Afghan territory by aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and occasionally the United States Air Force, based along the North West Frontier. These complaints are then either upheld or rejected by the Government of India – as a result of internal investigation – and a response issued via the British Legation. In a few cases copies of statements taken as a result of the investigation can be found alongside the correspondence. Officials of the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, and the India Office, are often referred to for advice on matters of policy.

Two particular incidents covered in greater detail are the accidental bombing of Narezai by RAF aircraft on 30 July 1942, and a crash landing of an RAF plane in Afghanistan on 1 July 1943. Despite the title of the file, it contains no material related to violations of British Indian territory by Afghan aircraft.

The French content consists of a single letter on folios 84-87, dated 28 March 1943, from the Government of Switzerland to the British Government outlining Swiss policy towards military aircraft – from Allied or Axis forces – that land or crash land in its territory. Extracts from this letter are quoted in related items of correspondence.

A Second World War propaganda poster regarding the Allied bombing of Germany has been reused due to wartime paper shortages; see folios 185v and 191v. A sketch map of Waziristan may be found on folio 258.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.