‘McMohan line does not divide but joinsTibet and India

New Delhi: The fact that the Chinese refused to ink the 1914 Shimla Convention agreement between India and Tibet puts question mark over the legality or morality of China's claim of sovereignty over Tibet, a group of India's top jurists, scholars and security experts feel.

The issue came up during a seminar on '1914 Shimla Convention Agreement and Consequences' held in India International Centre on Friday.

'The lost frontier is India's frontier'

The participants - who included senior Supreme Court Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, Arunachal MP Khiren Rijuju, Lt Gen. (Rtd.) F.R. J. Jacob, veteran diplomat Dalip Mehta, and writer Dr Parshotam Mehta - felt that this could make a strong case for India to press for autonomy of the Tibet in its negotiations with China during sixth round of discussions on Indo-China border that started today.

Tibet: The lost frontier

Presiding over the seminar Rijiju said, “McMohan line was not the line that divided Tibet and India, but was the line that actually joined India and Tibet. Today, Tibet has been occupied by China and the Chinese Government is not ready to accept it.”

Tibet: A road to nowhere

Dhawan argued that China's case for sovereignty over Tibet was inconclusive, contradictory and un-established. “I have gone through all relevant documents. At best, a nominal suzerainty was imposed by the imperial powers, which lapsed when the Chinese did not sign the agreement,” he said.

Writer Parshotam Mehta and Dr Anand Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University drew attention to the July declaration signed by the “plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Tibet” which said if China did not sign the agreement “she will be debarred from all privileges”.

”It was an agreement between the government of India and Tibet and did not accept any claim by China if the latter did not accept the conditionalities,” they contended.

Full coverage: Tibetan uprising

Dr Neeru Vora, Director of Swarajpath-A Gandhian Centre for Non-violence and Peace, passionately advocated that India should take up the cause of the Tibetans with China. “When China invaded Tibet, the flight of Tibetans into India was the flight of a sovereign people annihilated by conquest,” she said.

Dolma Tsering, a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, said that such seminars and discussions were important as they drew world attention it draws attention towards the problems of the oppressed Tibetans.

The seminar was organised by M.L. Sondhi Institute of Asia and Pacific Affairs in collaboration with the Tibetan Parliamentary and Research Centre to mark the 94th anniversary of 'the Shimla Agreement of 1914.

Summing up the deliberations, the director of the institute, Madhuri Santanam Sondhi said the government and the people of India could not ignore the struggle of the Tibetans for freedom and self-respect.

“More than five million Tibetans are living as refugees in India. Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile operate from India. Moreover, India has deep rooted cultural and economic relations with Tibet going back to centuries,” she said.


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