The McMahon Line- a Century of Discord
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China is one of our most important neighbours and the largest one. Our relations with China therefore assume the greatest significance for stability, peace and prosperity of the region. We are two emerging powers, seeking our rightful place on the world stage. It bears reiteration that together we make up a third of mankind. In the same breath, the security and prosperity of both India and China would be best served if all our neighbours evolve as viable states with stable regimes and robust economies. The leadership of both nations, despite hawks on both sides of the Himalayas, realize the significance of peace in the region so that the aspirations of the people may be met. We have a ‘strategic and cooperative’ partnership and a shared vision for the twenty-first century. There is enough space for sustained economic growth, social development and trade for both of us and the paths we have chosen may be different, but our goal is common—the well-being and prosperity of our people and peaceful growth.
I believe therefore that we may be competitors but not rivals. It is important that we keep in mind the lessons of the past, yet we must not allow the acrimonious decades of the 1950s and 1960s to cloud our judgement and hold hostage a promising future and prosperity for our people. India should engage China with self-confidence and on an equal footing. While it is a fact that China has progressed enormously, it merits recognition that India too is no longer the India of 1962.
India’s defence strategy vis-à-vis China must aim at achieving a more robust deterrence capability, thereby taking the cost of an armed conflict to a prohibitive level so far as the political, economic, diplomatic and military dimensions are concerned. As a matter of fact, the approach taken by both countries to enhance military-to-military cooperation and mutual trust while strengthening CBMs along the LAC is pragmatic and militarily sound. This in my opinion is beyond doubt the most beneficial option for both nations.
India’s bumbling, elephantine and almost chaotic democracy will keep moving forward, albeit fitfully, and the people are looking forward with mixed feelings to the national elections of 2019. On the other hand, Xi Jinping’s totalitarian ‘New China’ is, as brilliantly argued by Francois Godement of the European Council on Foreign Relations, akin to Mao’s model, ‘but with the benefit of technological tools that Mao could only dream of’. Yet interestingly, many international experts on China like David Shambaugh and Gordon Chang have predicted the end of the ‘regime due to economic vulnerabilities and social tensions’, ‘political repression’, ‘corruption’ and so on.15
Further in his narrative, Francois Bougon has concluded that if ‘he [Xi] succeeds, China may well become the perfect twenty-first-century dictatorship’.16 However, sceptics doubt whether the Middle Kingdom would be transformed into a ‘great modern socialist country’ and a ‘global leader’ by 2049, as envisioned by Xi, or is it only a chimera? At this juncture it is not easy to predict and time alone will tell.
Finally, we should not assume that our place at the high table of the world is assured; we have to get our act together and work hard to realize our dream. We need to remember the axiom ‘strength begets respect’, and also the words of Thucydides in Median Dialogue: ‘Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.’ These words hold good to this day. We have to become strong militarily while we forge ahead in other fields.
With the strong leadership that we see at the helm of affairs in both countries, it is hoped that their statesman-like, pragmatic and visionary approach will resolve the boundary and other issues as expeditiously as possible. When this happens in a fair, mutually acceptable and beneficial manner, the two rising nations can move forward and ensure that we and our future generations see a conflict-free, stable and prosperous world. A constructive relationship between India and China can redefine the contours of the twenty-first century, and the leadership that can make it happen will be remembered by history.
Notes
1. Roof of the World: Geography of Tibet
1.Mike Searle, Colliding Continents, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 331.
2.Name given by Eduard Suess, an eminent Austrian geographer and scientist.
3.While in the army, we often came across such fossils while patrolling along the Indo-Tibetan border in the Joshimath sector in the 1970s.
4.Mike Searle, Colliding Continents, p. 3.
5.Ibid., p. 367.
6.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 19.
7.John W. Garver, Protracted Contest: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Twentieth Century, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2001, p. 37.
8.Ibid., p. 37.
9.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 21.
10.Ibid., p. 17.
11.British Library and Archives, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 10 (IOR L/MIL/17/14/92). Hereafter this will be referred to as BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12.
12.Mike Searle, Colliding Continents, p. 299.
13.Gondker Narayana Rao, The India-China Border – A Reappraisal, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1968, p. 7.
14.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 1.
15.Ibid., pp. 8–13.
16.R.D. Pradhan, India China Gridlock Over Arunachal, Pune: Chinar Publishers, 2013, p. 143.
17.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 68.
2. History and Geopolitics
1.Claude Arpi, Tibet: The Lost Frontier, New Delhi: Lancer Publishers, 2008, Back Cover.
2.Sir Charles Bell, Tibet: Past and Present, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1924, pp. 23–31; BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 94.
3.Claude Arpi, Tibet: The Lost Frontier, New Delhi: Lancer Publishers, 2008, pp. 34–35.
4.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and its Mysteries, Delhi: Sanskaran Prakashak, 1905/1975, p. 24.
5.Ibid.
6.Timotheus A. Bodt, The New Lamp Clarifying the History, Peoples, Languages and Traditions of Eastern Bhutan and Eastern Mon, Wageningen, the Netherlands: Monpasang Publications, 2012, p. 4.
7.Claude Arpi, Tibet: The Lost Frontier, New Delhi: Lancer Publishers, 2008, pp. 24–25.
8.Ibid., p.25.
9.H.E. Richardson, Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1962, p. 30.
10.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, pp. 30–31; Claude Arpi, Tibet: The Lost Frontier, pp. 38–39.
11.Timotheus A. Bodt, The New Lamp Clarifying the History, Peoples, Languages and Traditions of Eastern Bhutan and Eastern Mon, Wageningen, the Netherlands: Monpasang Publications, 2012, p. 113.
12.Claude Arpi, Tibet: The Lost Frontier, New Delhi: Lancer Publishers, 2008, p. 41.
13.Eric Teichmann, Travels of a Consular Officer in Eastern Tibet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922, p. 2.
14.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, Vol. I, p. 184.
15.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, pp. 34–35.
16.Eric Teichmann, Travels of a Consular Officer in Eastern Tibet, p. 4.
17.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 99.
18.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, pp. 46–50; BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 102.
19.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, p. 110 (Morley to Minto, 6 July 1906).
20.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 103; Warren W. Smith Jr, A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996, p. 156.
3. Clouds over Lhasa
1.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 22.
2.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala Publications, 1984, p. 219.
3.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996, p. 155.
4.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, Delhi
: Sanskaran Prakashak, 1905/1975, pp. 56–57.
5.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, London: The British Library, 1988, pp. 8–9, n. 127.
6.Maj. Gen. Shubhi Sood, Younghusband: The Troubled Campaign, New Delhi: India Research Press, 2005, p. 51.
7.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, 1905/1975, p. 80.
8.Ibid.
9.Maj. Gen. Shubhi Sood, Younghusband: The Troubled Campaign, p. 56.
10.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_expedition_to_Tibet#cite_note-VirtualTibet-17
11.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, p. 198.
12.Ibid., p. 245.
13.Ibid., p. 269.
4. Tibet on Its Knees
1.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, Delhi: Sanskaran Prakashak 1905/1975, p. 22. This mantra of six symbols is chanted repetitiously by adherents of Buddhism and painted on rocks everywhere in Tibet. Each of these symbols has a profound meaning. It is singing ‘praises to the jewel in the lotus’ and has many other interesting interpretations, such as ‘Hail! The Jewel [Grand Lama] in the Lotus flower!’
2.Ibid., p. 279.
3.Ibid., p. 278.
4.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd., 1975, p. 26.
5.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, p. 332.
6.Ibid., p. 400.
7.H.E. Richardson, Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1962, p. 254.
8.Ibid., pp. 254–55.
9.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, p. 418.
10.Ibid., p. 418–9.
11.S. S. Khera, India’s Defence Problem, New Delhi: Orient Longman Ltd, 1968, p. 150.
12.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 67.
13.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers India, 1996, p. 159.
14.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 135.
15.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, p. 159
16.Hull, A.M.A., Colonel Younghusband’s Mission to Lhasa, 1904, Durham, UK.: Durham theses, Durham University, 1989, p. 43.
17.Ibid., p. 42.
18.Hull, A.M.A., Colonel Younghusband’s Mission to Lhasa, 1904, p. 43.
19.Ibid., and Francis Younghusband, India and Tibet, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 133.
5. First Exile of the Dalai Lama (1904–1909)
1.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd., 1975, pp. 26–27.
2.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 65.
3.Ibid., p.66.
4.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 27.
5.Warren W. Smith, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, p.164.
6.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p. 69.
7.Ibid., p. 66.
8.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 49.
9.C.G.E. Mannerheim, Across Asia From West to East 1906–08, Oosterhout N.B. Netherlands: Anthropological Publications, 1969, pp. 693–694.
10.Elliott Sperling, JIATS, No. 6, 2011, THL#5720, pp. 389–410.
11.Ibid. Vicomte Henri d’ollone, In Forbidden China, Boston: Maynard and Company Publishers, 1906–09, pp. 306–7.
12.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1966, p. 174.
13.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation, p.112.
14.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, London: The British Library, 1988, p. 20, note 348.
15.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, p. 168.
16.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 29.
17.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, p. 174.
6. Chinese Subjugation of Tibet (1905–1911)
1.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 35.
2.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 18.
3.Alastair Lamb, Britain and Chinese Central Asia: The Road to Lhasa, 1767 to 1905, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960, p. 260.
4.Firuz Kazemzadeh, Russia and Britain in Russia: Imperial Ambition in Qajar Iran, London: I.B. Tauris, 2013.
5.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, p.88.
6.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, pp. 186–189.
7.Ibid., p. 188.
8.Ibid., pp. 187–8
9.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation, p. 170.
10.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon, Line Vol. I, p. 188.
11.BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 123.
12.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p.77.
13.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, p. 132.
14.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P Dutton & Co Inc., 1962, p. 96.
15.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, p. 193.
16.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P Dutton & Co. Inc., p. 99.
17.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier, Vol. I, 1906-14, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979, p.188.
18.Warren W. Smith Jr, 1996, p. 180.
19.Ibid.
20.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, pp. 2–4.
21.BLA, Mr Alston’s Memorandum on Tibet, January 1–30 August 1913, No. 352 of September 8, 1913–5062.
7. Southern Frontiers of Tibet
1.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, pp. 130–31.
2.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 291.
3.Captain F.M. Bailey, ‘Report on an Exploration of the North East Frontier 1913’, Simla: Government of India, 1914, p. 22.
4.Ibid., p. 23.
5.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier Vol. I, 1906-14, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 35.
6.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p.333.
7.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontier, p. 128.
8.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier, Vol. I, 1906-14, p.37.
9.Ibid., pp. 37–39. According to information gained by Captain Hardcastle of the Mishmi Mission 1911–12, this Chinaman’s name was Chang or Chiang and his title was Ta Lao-yeh. He was ‘evidently a military officer’. Further, he was described ‘as wearing a black uniform with a belt’ and had reportedly served with the garrison in Chikung for a year.
10.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, pp. 129–30.
11.Ibid., p. 130.
12.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, pp. 287–89, 357–58.
13.McMahon’s Final Memorandum, 1914, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B206, p. 2. (Hereafter will be referred to as Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914).
8. The Dalai Lama Flees to India
1.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 86.
2.Ibid.
3.Ibid., p. 92.
4.Warren W. Smith, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996, p. 177–79, and letter of the 13th Dalai Lama to Lo T’i-t’ai, Notes 98–99.
5.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala Publications, 1984, p. 245.
6.Ibid., pp. 246–49.
7.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p. 129.
8.Warren W. Smith, Tibetan Nation, p. 181
9.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1962, p. 105.
10.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 128.
11.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p.135.
12.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 126.
13.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 246–47.
14.Ibid., pp. 248–49.
9. Tibet Policy of the British
1.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p.149.
2.BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/432 dated 21 February 1914. Note from H. Porter, consul general, Chengtu, on 21 February 1914, to J. Jordan, minister in British Legation in Peking.
3.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, pp. 9–10.
4.Heather Spence, British Policy and the ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912-1933, Sydney: University of Wollongong, 1993, p. 41.
5.Ibid., p. vii.
6.Ibid., pp. vii–viii.
7.Ibid.
8.Ibid., p. 43
9.Ibid., pp. 45–46.
10.BLA, Military Report on Tibet, 1910/12, p. 9.
11.Eric Teichmann, Travels of a Consular Officer in Eastern Tibet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922, p. 16; Warren W. Smith Jr, A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, HarperCollins Publishers, 1996, p.175.
12.Eric Teichmann, Travels of a Consular Officer in Eastern Tibet, p. 16.
13.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, pp. 199–200.
14.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala Publications, 1984, p. 230.
10. Eastern Himalayan Frontier
1.Zorawar Daulet Singh, The Himalayan Stalemate, New Delhi: KW Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2011, p. 1.
2.Timotheus A. Bodt, The New Lamp Clarifying the History, Peoples, Languages and Traditions of Eastern Bhutan and Eastern Mon, Wageningen, the Netherlands: Monpasang Publications, 2012, p. 4.