McMahon Line

The McMahon Line is a border between Tibet and British India. The McMahon line was drawn agreeing in the maps and notes as exchanged by the respective officials of these countries on 24^th and 25^th of March in the year 1914 at Delhi. Initially the line was an overall boundary of Tibet, China and India but soon after this China quickly rejected it. Presently, the Indian part of the Line currently functions as a boundary between China and India. Although, the legal status of this boundary is still at dispute by the People’s Republic of China. 

In this context, we are going to know more about this border line between India and China. We will also discuss the conditions which were present at the time of its formulation.

The Line is named after Whom?

The India China border name McMahon is named after Henry McMahon who was a foreign secretary of British India and he was the Chief British negotiator in the conference at Simla. The bilateral agreement which was done between Tibet and British India was later signed by McMahon on behalf of the British government. On the other hand, Lonchen Shatra signed the agreement on behalf of the Tibetan government.

McMahon Line Length

The McMahon line extends to 890 kilometres (that is 550 miles) from the corner of Bhutan to Isu Razi Pass on the Border of Burma along the crest of the Himalayas forming a boundary between India and China. The Line was originally intended to limit the respective influence of two countries which lie in the eastern Himalayan region.

Acknowledgment of the Border Line and Its Interpretation 

The result of the Simla Conference had many interpretations for several decades because China did not sign the overall Convention while on the other hand, the Britishers at that time kept on persuading the Chinese people to consider the McMahon Line as the border between India and China.

The Convention and McMahon's agreement were omitted in the year 1928 edition of the Aitchison's Treaties. Later this was revived in 1935 by Olaf Caroe who was the deputy of foreign secretary of The British India who had obtained London’s permission to implement it as well as to publish a revised edition of the 1928 Aitchison’s Treaties. 

In regard to India, its interpretation of the McMahon Line is – McMahon line is a border between three landmasses. It is a national border, but China rejects the Simla Convention and the McMahon Line, therefore contending that Tibet was not a sovereign state and therefore did not have any power to conclude the treaty with British India.

Is Arunachal Pradesh a part of the Indian Territory? – Dalai Lama’s recognition

Originally the 14th Dalai Lama did not actually recognise Arunachal Pradesh as the sovereign state of India. Late in the year 2003, he said that "Arunachal Pradesh was actually part of Tibet". In the month of January 2007, he contradicted his own statement and later said that - both the Tibetan government and the British Indian Government recognized the McMahon Line in the year 1914. In June of the year 2008, he later recognized and accepted for the first time that "Arunachal Pradesh was a part of India under the agreement signed by Tibetan and British representatives".

British India and the Tribal people

When India was under the colonial rule of the British, India expanded to the eastern side of Bhutan in the early 19th century when the First Anglo-Burmese War occurred. At the end of this war, the Brahmaputra valley which was initially part of Assam came under control and in the next few decades, British India extended their direct administration over these regions in many different stages. 

The densely forested hill tracts which surrounded the valley were a home of many tribal people, who did not easily accept the British administrative control. The British administrators were compelled to leave them alone. In the year 1873, the British drew an "Inner Line" which was termed as an administrative line to stop the tribal people from encroaching the territory. The British boundary, was also called the "Outer Line", which was defined to be the mark of limits by the British jurisdiction. But this was not significantly different from the Inner Line which was marked by them in the north. 

After the outer line resided the Himalayan tribes, who aimed at living a peaceful neighbourly relation with the Britishers.    

China does not accept the McMahon Line – Reason behind it?

According to the Chinese Government, Tibet was always a part of their own territory, and hence the representative of Tibet was not authorised to accept any agreement about the line between India and China, without the Chinese consent. In the year 1950, China had fully occupied the Tibetan region. Presently, China neither approved nor accepted the India and China border name as the McMahon Line.

China further gives their argument that China was never involved in the Shimla Agreement. Thus, the Shimla Agreement is not binding on them. China claimed their right on Arunachal Pradesh only after occupying Tibet in the year 1950.

Current Status of the McMahon Line

Today, India recognizes the McMahon Line as the ‘Actual line of Control’ between India and China, while on the other hand, China does not totally recognize the McMahon Line. China in their words says that the area of the disputed area is around 2,000 kilometres while India claims it as around 4,000 kilometres. This land of the dispute between these two countries - India and China is in Tawang (a place in Arunachal Pradesh), China considers this as the Southern part of Tibet. According to the Simla Agreement, this is a part of the Indian state which is Arunachal Pradesh.

Thus, it is clear that China actually rejects almost every treaty which they had approved previously before the communist revolution. 

Did You Know?

• In the year 1947, the Tibetan government had written a note which was presented to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs laying their claim on the Tibetan districts which were located in the south of the McMahon Line. 

• In Beijing, the Communist Party came into administration in the year 1949 and had declared its intention to "liberate" or free the Tibetans. India, which then had become independent in the year 1947, responded to this by declaring the McMahon Line is a boundary and they decisively asserted control over the Tawang area. 

• In the year 1950, when India-China relations were at peace and maintained with cordiality the boundary dispute was then quiet, the Indian government under the governance of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru initiated the slogan ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai which meant Indians and Chinese are now brothers. Nehru maintained his own slogan. In the year 1950, he said that he would not accept any negotiations if China brought up the boundary dispute, hoping that China would actually accept what was already decided upon. 

• In 1954, India renamed this disputed area in the Northeastern Frontier Agency.

Conclusion 

The McMahon line was initially drawn to mark a distinct boundary between these two countries, while this has partially been accepted as the boundary line. China had its own theories of not accepting the borderline, while India currently acknowledges it as the Line of Actual Control. In reality, the Chinese actually never accepted any treaty drawn between India and China for their hostility against each other.