The McMahon Line- a Century of Discord by J. J. Singh

Author:J. J. Singh [Singh, J. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
ISBN: 9789352777761
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2019-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

I understand that your Government has now agreed to this frontier subject to the above two conditions. I shall be glad to learn definitely from you that this is the case.

You wished to know whether certain dues now collected by the Tibetan Government at Tsona Jong and in Kongbu and Kham from the Monpas and Lopas for articles sold may still be collected. Mr. Bell has informed you that such details will be settled in a friendly spirit, when you have furnished him the further information, which you have promised.

The final settlement of this India–Tibet frontier will help to prevent causes of future dispute and thus cannot fail to be of great advantage to both Governments.

Delhi, 24th March 1914, A.H. McMahon.

Lonchen Shatra had already received approval for this from the Dalai Lama’s government, and he replied to McMahon the next day. A translated version of his reply says:

As it was feared that there might be friction in future unless the boundary between India and Tibet is clearly defined, I submitted the map, which you sent to me in February last, to the Tibetan Government at Lhasa for orders. I have now received orders from Lhasa, and I accordingly agree to the boundary as marked in red in the two copies of the maps signed by you, subject to the conditions mentioned in your letter, dated the 24th March, sent to me through Mr. Bell. I have signed and sealed the two copies of the maps. I have kept one copy here and return herewith the other.13

Sent on the 29th day of the 1st Month of the Wood-Tiger year (25th March 1914) by Lonchen Shatra, the Tibetan Plenipotentiary.

Seal of Lonchen Shatra.

These historical documents have not merely been signed by the plenipotentiaries of Tibet and British India but have the approval of the two governments too. The Indo-Tibetan boundary shown in the two map sheets on a fairly large scale, duly signed by both plenipotentiaries, has thus acquired a high standing and sanctity. It needs to be appreciated that in those times dispatch of dak by courier from Simla to Lhasa and back would have involved travel by train to Siliguri, thereafter by pony, then by yak and on foot to Lhasa via the Chumbi Valley. The whole process could easily take three to four weeks by the fastest means! It is to the credit of Charles Bell and Lonchen Shatra that these vital inputs were obtained in time for the convention to be signed. What has not received the desired recognition and acclaim was the delimitation of the Indo-Tibetan boundary by McMahon on a large-scale map-set, which was indeed a far-sighted and visionary idea. It has been aptly described that his ‘object in obtaining this detailed mutual agreement with the Tibetan Government regarding this section of the India–Tibet boundary has been to minimise as far as possible the chances of future misunderstanding and dispute on the subject. This section of frontier in question, although over 1,280 kilometres in length, has hitherto been absolutely undefined.

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