The McMahon Line- a Century of Discord
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challenges posed to our security
had more pressing demands for use of the military
Indo-Tibetan boundary
Johnston, Reginald, British Colonial Service officer
Jordan, Sir John
Karakoram-Aksai Chin region
Karnik, Ashok
Kingdon-Ward, F
Kunphela in south Tibet
Ladakh
Chinese in
Border Region of Eastern
treaty signed in 1842
Lama of Reting nominated the incarnate as the Regent
Lama, Panchen
passed away in 1937 at Jyekundo
Lama, Tashi
Lamb, Alaister
Lien Yu
Lightfoot, Cap G.S
Liu Tsan-ting, Chinese general
Lockhart, Gen Sir Robert
Lopas
Lu Hsing-chi, secret agent of China
Lungshar to become the power centre
Ma Wei-ch’i, Gen
Macdonald, Col/ Gen James Ronald Leslie
Manchu court’s policy for the dependencies
Manchu empire, objective of the
collapse of
Mannerheim, Baron Gustaf, in Russian army
Mao Tse-tung
McMahon line, for independent India, has proved to be a boon
details of the
major hurdles during the negotiations
Russia and Japan also interested in discussions and results
the red line eventually came to be known as the
McMahon, Lt Col Arthur Henry, empowered ‘to sign any Convention, Agreement or Treaty which may be concluded at the Conference’
McMahon’s, Sir Henry, analysis of Chinese policy in Tibet
salient extracts from McMahon’s incisive report
Mehra’s, Parshottam, account in The McMahon Line and After
Mehta, Jagat S, commented on Nehru’s foreign policy
Minto, Lord
Mishmi
Mission Lhasa, Younghusband-led expedition
Britain assigned three tasks to
Lhasa Treaty of 1904
salient features of
lacked two cardinal elements
London’s view of
modifications to the terms of
result of
also see Younghusband, Lt Col F.E.
Mongolia
Monpa
Mullik, B.N
author of The Chinese Betrayal
Needham, Jack Francis
Nehru, Jawahar Lal, decided to placate China
by accepting Tibet as a part of China and
in 1954 endorsing the Panchsheel agreement
Nehru did not seriously consider China a threat to India
Nepal
and Britain signed Treaty of Sagauli (1815)
China and
Nima, Choskyi, the Panchen Lama, passed away in 1937 at Jyekundo
Norbu, Thubten Jigme
Norbu’s, D, The Eurpeanisation of Sino-Tibetan Relations
North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) was created to include the tribal areas
Panchsheel Agreement
Panikkar, Ambassador
Parasnis, Wing Com RV
Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Peyton, J
Pobas
Pokotiloff, M
Pun, Havildar
Putin, Russian President Vladimir
Puyi, the last Ch’ing emperor
Richardson, H.E, analyses Chinese policy
author of A Short History of Tibet
Rockhill, William, U.S. ambassador to China
Russia
and British India
and China
and Dalai Lama
and Tibet
Russian intrigue
Russo-Japanese War (1904-05)
Shipki pass
Sikkim
and Britain, and Dalai Lama in
Simla conference
Assam and Sikkim not informed of text of the
British Indian empire and Tibet stood to gain from the Simla conference
British objectives of the
Chinese plenipotentiary at the Simla Conference, Ivan Chen
counter-claims, salient aspects of
Final memorandum signed in 1914 of the
Government refused to recognise the treaty
made some vague and unreasonable demands
participated in tripartite conference
took the initiative to restart negotiations with the British
would derive benefits by adhering to the convention
Singh, Gulab, annexation by
Singh, Purandar
Sino-British Convention (1890) settling matters relating to the Indo-Tibetan boundary in Sikkim and border trade
Sino-British Convention (1890)
Sino-British Trade Agreement and the Adhesion Agreement of 1906 signed
Sino-Russian Treaty (1913)
Sino-Tibet boundary dispute
Sino-Tibetan Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet was signed
Spence, Heather, on British policy
Spiti
boundary with Tibet was demarcated
Szechuan Kung-pao, responsible for administration of the frontier at Chengdu
Tibet
Buddhism in
Chang Yin-Tang given charge of the administration of
tribes in
changpas
drukpas
isolation of
remained an independent state for four decades starting end-1912
rises up in arms against Chinese
takeover by Chinese military in 1951
Trade Agreement with Chinese representatives (1908)
turbulent decade of (1904 to 1914)
Younghusband expedition and relations between Tibet, China and British India
Teichman, Sir Eric, the British consular official at Tachienlu, mediated between the generals from Tibet and China in 1918, and an agreement was signed by the three
Tendar, Kalon Chamba, Tibetan General
Tibet and
British India
China
boundary between
peace treaties with
Mongolia
signed a treaty to declare themselves as sovereign states and renounced Chinese overlordship
Russia
Sikkim
Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)
Tibet
divided into two zones, Inner Tibet and Outer Tibet
tripartite (British, Chinese and Tibetan in 1913–14) conference at Simla to settle some of the questions of
witnessed a period of relative peace and stability after the Simla conference
Tibetan National Assembly (Tsongdu)
Tibetan statement contained six elements
Tibet’s new-found independence from the Chinese yoke
prestige and authority of the Dalai Lama was restored
Trade Agreement of 1908 between British India and China
tribal areas, British policy for governance of
Lord Minto’s policy of non-interference
tribal societies, attitude of many Europeans towards these
Waddel, Lt Col Austine
Whitehall
Williamson massacred by Abor tribesmen
world in 19th century
World war I
World War II
Xuantong, Emperor, and the dowager emperess, Cixi, state mourning for
Younghusband, Lt Col F.E, led Mission Lhasa
Yuan Shih-k’ai apologizes for the misdemeanours of the Chi’ing empire
Yuan Shi-kai, Chinese president
Acknowledgements
Writing about the boundary problem between two ancient civilisations that were not neighbours in a strict sense till the mid-twentieth century because Tibet acted as a buffer has been a daunting task. The source material has not been easy to come by. While, on the Chinese side, the closed system
allows access to researchers in a highly controlled manner, the Indian archives have been carefully shrouded and many documents pertaining to the period from our Independence for three decades are not in the public domain, although they have leaked through in bits and pieces.
Soon after the launch of my book A Soldier’s General, my publisher Krishan Chopra broached the subject of my next project. Almost instinctively I replied that something which has engaged my imagination and interest for almost half a century is what I would endeavour to write about. The McMahon Line and the India–China boundary problem is a vexatious issue that has defied resolution despite the brief border war between the two large neighbours. ‘We should go ahead with it’ was Krishan’s measured response, the astute publisher that one finds him to be. My grateful acknowledgement of his support and constructive suggestions as this work progressed during the past five years. My gratitude goes to the team at HarperCollins, especially Siddhesh Inamdar, who was my editorial anchor for this project.
I am immensely grateful to Lieutenant General V.R. Raghavan for his valuable comments and guidance for this work. I was also facilitated greatly in my research by the excellent staff of the British Library and Archives and the director and his dedicated team of the Arunachal Pradesh Museum and Archives at Itanagar. The staff of the libraries at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Analysis and the Delhi Gymkhana Club, particularly Mukesh Jha and Joginderpal Goswami respectively, were extremely efficient and helpful in sourcing material for research of this book. The secretarial team in Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi proved to be a great asset, particularly, Rana, Amol A. Sawant, who helped immensely in cataloguing and retrieving the reference material and associated computer work and rendered valuable advice while working on the drafts, and Dattatray Redekar, who made some wonderful sketches and illustrations. I am indeed grateful to Shanta Serbjeet Singh and her son Karamjeet Singh for kind permission to use the panoramic painting by reknowned artist Serbjeet Singh of the Kameng region that has been adapted as the backdrop of the cover. I would like to specially thank Colonel Raman Yadav, 1/8 Gorkha Rifles for kind permission to use adaptations of some photographs taken during the Younghusband Expedition of 1903–04.
A project of this nature cannot be accomplished without the encouragement and support of friends and well-wishers. I have been fortunate to have a wealth of such friends, many of whom wish to remain anonymous. I am deeply indebted to all of them, most of all my close family who had to bear my pre-occupied disposition for a long time with patience and understanding, especially Seerat and Anne-Tara, who kept me humoured whenever I was out of sync with my surroundings.
It is my pleasure to place on record the contribution, in terms of valuable ideas, generosity and willingness to give their time, of my friends and close ones: Pema Khandu, Hardeep Singh Puri, Chowna Mein, Chattrapati Shahu Maharaj, P.J.S. Pannu, Anil Malhotra, Ramesh Bhatia, Sambaji Raje, Satish Kapur, Ankur Garg, Sushil Gupta, Harsh Sethi, Y.K. Joshi, Gurchi Kochhar, Satish Lakhina, Lakshminarayanan, Dr Amarjeet Singh Marwah, Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, Naresh Gujral, Raj Loomba, Ranjit Singh, Nirupama Kaur, Vikramjit Sen, Shakti Sinha, Ashok K. Kanth, Vivek Chadha, Shivaji Mahadkar, Ashok Mehta and Maroof Raza. To them I shall be deeply indebted. I owe gratitude to my friends from Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Governor B.D. Mishra, the Dorjee Khandu family, Nabam Tuki, Y.D. Thongchi, Mamang Dai and many others who readily shared the source material and first-hand accounts relating to the historical, etymological, and cultural dimensions of the tribal societies that have inhabited the densely forested and splendrous mountains of the Himalayas.
A special word of thanks to former President of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who, before his passing in 2015, had a look at an early draft of this book and wished it success. He was happy to know that it was in the works and graciously noted that it would be of great value to readers, soldiers, the youth and the nation at large.
Finally, my grateful thanks to all of you for making this work a reality.
About the Book
Sir Henry McMahon, a British colonial administrator, drew a line along the Himalayas at the Simla Convention of 1913–14, demarcating what would in later years become the effective boundary between Tibet and the north-east region of India. The boundary, disputed by China, has had a profound effect on the relations between the two Asian giants, resulting most prominently in the war of 1962 but also in several skirmishes and stand-offs both before and after that.
Fortunately, since the 1980s, the leadership of both nations have adopted a statesman-like approach by opting to constructively engage and resolve the issue in a peaceful manner. Nonetheless, the unresolved boundary continues to be a thorn in the side—reaching a flashpoint at the tri-junction between Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan in Doklam in 2017—and may derail all the progress in bilateral ties if left unattended.
General J.J. Singh—former Indian Army chief and Governor of Arunachal Pradesh—brings his long years of experience to bear on Sino-Indian relations in The McMahon Line. He examines the evolution of the boundary and the nuances of British India’s Tibet policy from the eighteenth century through to India’s Independence, analyses the repercussions for contemporary times and puts forth recommendations for the way ahead.
The McMahon Line is an important treatise that advances the understanding of the strategic balance in a geopolitically sensitive region.
About the Author
General J.J. Singh (retd), PVSM, AVSM, VSM, has served as the Chief of Army Staff and the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. During his forty-seven-year stint in the army, he commanded two infantry battalions and was closely associated with the planning and execution of the Kargil War at the army headquarters. After retirement, he was appointed Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He has also received a number of civilian honours and awards for his outstanding leadership. He was conferred with the ‘Officier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur’ (Officer of the Legion of Honour), the highest civilian distinction bestowed by the Government of France, in 2015. His autobiography, A Soldier’s General, was published in 2012.
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First published in hardback in India in 2019 by
HarperCollins Publishers
A-75, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India
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Copyright © J.J. Singh 2019
ISBN: 978-93-5277-775-4
Epub Edition © April 2019 ISBN: 978-93-5277-776-1
The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.
J.J. Singh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.
Cover design : Saurav Das
Cover image courtesy : J.J. Singh
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