A strong alliance with a friendly Dost Mohammed might have been one good way to block Russian expansion, but Macnaghten and Lord Auckland didn’t trust “the Dost,” as they called him. The Dost was too strong to be trusted. Strength gives a man ideas. During those fine banquets at the Afghan court and the quiet conversations afterward, Burnes avoided all discussion of Peshawar, military aid, treaty alliances, and closer ties. Dost Mohammed began to realize that Burnes was going to return to India without having made him a single promise.
