Article No. 10 -LADAKH REGION AND TIBET: 1913 THE WATERSHED YEAR

Why 01 Jan 1913? British-India and Qing Dynasty had interacted for past 60-70 years on the border issue. In 2012, Provisional Government of Republic of China (PGRC) removed Qing Dynasty and as per treaty took over complete territories held by Qing Dynasty. Tibet, thus passed over to PGRC.

Tibet shared its borders with India all along Himalayas on the northern slopes. Karakoram, present state of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh shared their borders with Tibet. PGRC claim over Tibet dragged British-India into direct conflict with PGRC and true to their character, British kept their interests over anything else, India being the last in their list of worries.

India was struggling with issues of independence and was completely disjointed. There was no central effort to handle issues related to borders. British kept administration, foreign affairs and military tightly under them. While the PGRC was consolidating its position in China, India was dragged into First World War by the British. The British-Indian Army was to fight as British Army under British Flag. Complete country was sucked into providing of war effort to Britain. With complete internal chaos in India, the border issue with China was least important for British.

It is very important to understand the state of Tibet. Since 1720, Qing Dynasty had annexed Tibet which in turn was taken over by Provisional Government of Republic of China (PGRC) in 1912. The PGRC or the Nationalist Government of China was defeated by the Peoples Liberation Army under the Chinese Communist Party in 1950 and the party continues in power since then to-date. What was happening in British-India and the world during these years?

1912-1950: The PGRC Reign. These thirty seven years saw Britain being the lead power in two world wars. British-Indian armed forces were fighting under the British flag. Though untouched by the first world war, India borders in east were part of the Second World war battles. PGRC reign in China was towards the end and by the time India got its independence, PGRC had just three years of being in power but ‘powerless’. This complete period on 37 years from 1912 to 1950 can easily be written off so far as resolving border dispute was concerned. In fact there was no ‘border’ hence the word ‘dispute’ is not correct. There was no formal communication on the subject.

Tibet declared its independence from China in 1913 soon as Qing Dynasty fell. It continued its struggle to get independence and being recognised by international community. No western power recognised its independence. By 1933, a small office of PGRC was functional in Lhasa. Tibet, in history, has never been part of discussion in India. Except for the commonality of religion, no interaction with this nation and the British completely ignoring Tibet in the overall scheme of things, resulted in India being completely in dark about this land. The result shows till today.

Tibet has been of Chinese interest since last 500 years. Sovereignty, independence and efforts of breaking away from Chinese grip was a loosing effort always tried by Tibet. Qing Dynasty held it from 1720 to 1912. After Qing, Tibet made effort in different ways from 1913 to 1950 to gain independence and each effort failed.

1911-1928. PGRC could not consolidate its political hold over China and a little history will help us to understand internal compulsions in British-India and China. 1911 to 1928 was the period of internal turmoil in China. PGRC removed Qing Dynasty but the fiefdoms within China could not be brought together. It was a near civil war like situation. First World War and its after effects kept British-India busy from 1912 to nearly 1925. It took those many years for the nationalist Indians to come together in a meaningful way. Could anyone have engaged with PGRC which in itself was completely consumed in bringing all fiefdoms together?

1925-1948. The Republic of China and its Government were established in 1925, but it took nearly three years to consolidate its position. By 1928 the entire country was brought under one party and most importantly, it received international recognition. The Government was referred to as ‘Nationalist Government’ and was completely consumed by Second Sino-Japanese War,  Chinese Civil War and the Second World War. The Communist movement had gained strength and the revolution finally resulted in the Nationalist Government being replaced by the current ‘Government of the Republic of China’ in the newly promulgated Constitution of the Republic of China. What was happening in India? The Second World War and the internal political scenario had heated up and the British were under tremendous pressure to quit India. Both countries were under tremendous internal turmoil. India gained its independence in Aug 1947 where as China promulgated its constitution in 1948. Indian Constitution came up in 1950.

Notable Developments between 1912-1948

It is necessary to know about the developments with regard to the boundary between India and China between 1912 to 1948. Efforts of British to expand their territory, agreements with Tibet and efforts to sign different treaties prior to 1912 have been covered in the previous articles. In brief, British forces entered Tibet in 1904 and made a treaty with Tibetans. In 1906 the British sought Chinese suzerainty (the right of a country to partly control another) which the Chinese rejected. Chinese insisted on sovereignty, whereas Britain and Russia acknowledged Chinese ‘suzerainty”. Tibet expelled all Chinese forces in 1913 and declared independence from China, which PGRC rejected. Hence, in 1913, British-India, Tibet and PGRC or the Nationalist Government became three different parties for the India-China Border issue.

The Birth of McMahon Line

Traditionally the borders of any established kingdom were marked but in case of Tibet, the terrain was the biggest obstacle and at most places there were no understood or accepted boundaries between two countries. Himalayas stood between India and Tibet.

In 1913, the British called for a convention between Great Britain (not Government of British-India), China and Tibet in Shimla to discuss and finalise the status of Tibet and to decide upon the boundaries. The agenda was to separate the spheres of influence in the EASTERN Himalayan region along north-east India and northern Myanmar. The convention was attended by Henry McMahon, Foreign Secretary of British India, the Chinese and Tibetan representatives. Tibet was divided into inner and outer Tibet and lines were drawn on the map. The line that demarcated Tibet and the north east India came to be known as McMahon line.

After one year, a draft convention was ‘initialled’ by all the three representatives but China immediately repudiated it. A revised convention was finalised in Jul 1914 and was signed by the British and Tibet only. Chinese representative declined to sign it. The British and Tibetan representatives signed a bilateral declaration binding the convention on the two and to deny China any privileges under the Convention. For India, the McMahon line spans 890 kms from the eastern corner of Bhutan to the Isu Razi Pass on the Burma border mostly along the crest of Himalayas.

The gist of the impact of the Shimla Convention and McMahon line is as follows:

• China did not sign the agreement in 1914 and rejected the McMahon Line.
• British-India and later India, stick to the McMahon Line as the declared border between China and India.
• Tibet did not accept British-Indian and Indian claim on Arunachal Pradesh.
• China was silent on the Myanmar part of McMahon Line and settled its dispute accepting McMahon Line.
• Status quo remained till 1947.

Summary

It is best to summarise by saying that 1913-1950, 37 years were lost with no progress on any understanding on a common boundary between India and China. What do all these events when placed on a timeline tell us? Have we missed something? The pertinent points of these 37 years are as follows:

• Qing Dynasty controlled Tibet from 1720, hence the chain from 1720 to 1948 is clearly established. Tibet thus, passed over from Qing to PGRS only to be snatched by the communists in 1948, the year Chinese promulgated their constitution.
• British-India entered the scene around 1860 and before that, the Dogra had entered Tibet periphery in Ladakh in 1840’s. There is no recorded history of India having any interest in Tibet before 1840 except for the famous trade routes passing through the western frontiers of Tibet, of which India had little to do.
• By taking over every piece of land Qing Dynasty had under them, PGRC took over entire Tibet and did not let succeed any effort of Tibetan representatives to gain independence.
• These 37 years added North East India as an added boundary issue between China and India besides Ladakh.
• 1913 Shimla Convention, which focussed on North-East was rejected by China claiming that Tibet was not a sovereign state and thus did not have power to conclude treaties.
• McMahon Line was rejected by Chinese. The current boundary of Arunachal Pradesh as depicted in Indian maps is along the McMahon Line where as the Chinese claim 65,000 sq. km area, practically entire Arunachal Pradesh as their territory and call it South Tibet or the Tibet Autonomous Region.
• Entire history at the dawn on Indian Independence in 1947 and Republic of China promulgating its Constitution in 1948 is summed up. The reader must draw his conclusions.

Indian Independence

British had lost interest in India by the end of Second World War and were busy what they were best in, leave behind such level of internal mess in India that the country would take a hundred years to get out of it. We still have not got out of it in the 73^rd year.

Around Indian independence, the Chinese revolution was at peak and within one year the Communists removed the PGRC or the Nationalist Government and promulgated their constitution in 1948.

Next Article onwards I will cover the 73 years of independent India’s handling of the border dispute. Did we fundamentally go wrong somewhere? Did the ‘ego’ shape future events, could there have been a better and more sensible way out?

1947 to 2020, the journey has been full of blood. Who failed India? Politicians? Military Leadership? Or the Foreign Service?

Stay with me.

Col Sanjay Pande

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