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Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

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Topic: Sikkim-Tibet Convention of 1890

Why in News?

• The skirmishes and the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Naku La in Sikkim in May 2020, in an area of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that is considered settled, may be Beijing’s way of attempting a new claim.
• India has highlighted the historical Sikkim-Tibet Convention of 1890 as proof of India’s ownership of the territory.
• Referring to a major scuffle that took place at Naku La on May 9, the sources said it was unusual for Chinese troops to open up a part of the LAC that has not been in contention before.

Undemarcated but Settled Boundaries

• Meetings between former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003 and maps exchanged subsequently indicated that India recognised the Tibetan Autonomous Region as a part of China, and Beijing recognised Sikkim as a State of the Indian union, the boundary at Sikkim while undisputed, remains undemarcated on the ground.
• In 2017, after the Doklam stand-off near the India-Bhutan-China trijunction, then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee that “there are still steps to be covered before the boundary is finalised.”
• India accepted the 1890 treaty as “the basis for alignment”, but the treaty had only been “partially implemented on the ground”.
• Prior to Sikkim’s merger with India in 1975, the Chinese side accepted the Watershed based alignment of the International Border (IB), and in a Note dated December 26, 1959 stated, “The Sikkim - Tibet boundary has long formally been delimited and there is neither any discrepancy between the maps, nor any dispute in practice.”

Convention of 1890

• The Convention of 1890 was entered by the King of Great Britain on behalf of India before independence and around the time of independence, the Indian Independence (International Arrangement) Order, 1947 was notified by Secretariat of the Governor-General (Reforms) on August 14, 1947.
• In terms of Order of 1947, the government of India is bound by the said Convention of 1890. However, India's affirmation of the Convention of 1890 was limited to the alignment of the India-China border in Sikkim, based on watershed, and not with respect to any other aspects.
• As per Article (1) of Convention of 1890, it was agreed that the boundary of Sikkim and Tibet shall be the crest of the mountain range separating the waters flowing into the Sikkim Teesta and its affluents, from the waters flowing into the Tibetan Mochu and northwards into other rivers of Tibet. The line commences at Mount Gipmochi, on the Bhutan frontier, and follows the above-mentioned waterparting to the point where it meets Nepal territory.
• However, Tibet refused to recognise the validity of Convention of 1890 and further refused to carry into effect the provisions of the said Convention. In 1904, a treaty known as a Convention between Great Britain and Tibet was signed at Lhasa.
• As per the Convention, Tibet agreed to respect the Convention of 1890 and to recognise the frontier between Sikkim and Tibet, as defined in Article (1) of the said Convention. On April 27, 1906, a treaty was signed between Great Britain and China at Peking, which confirmed the Convention of 1904 between Great Britain and Tibet.
• The geographic alignment of the features was so prominent that it could easily be identified and recognized. Even analysing the available Google images of the pass, the location of Naku La could be discerned by anyone as the watershed parting line in the area was very prominent. There exists no ambiguity with respect to the location of the pass, since geographic realities cannot be altered.