Then, as regards the nature of the pledges themselves. The pledges given were that, “so long as no other Power endeavours to intervene in the affairs of Tibet, they [His Majesty’s Government] will not attempt either to annex it, to establish a protectorate over it, or in any way to control its internal administration.”
THE CHUMBI VALLEY
The question was, “Did the right to occupy the Chumbi Valley for seventy-five years, as security for the payment of an indemnity, involve a breach of this pledge?” Burma, in somewhat similar circumstances, we had annexed, but that meant turning out the native rulers, constituting a Government of our own, and stationing garrisons at the capital and throughout the country. Over Native States in India we established protectorates, but that necessarily involved subordinating their foreign relations to our own. In many of them we controlled the internal administration, but only by agents of Government being deputed especially for that purpose. Would the occupation of Chumbi, a valley lying altogether outside Tibet proper, on the Indian and not on the Tibetan side of the watershed, a valley which had not always belonged to Tibet, mean annexing Tibet, establishing a protectorate over it, or controlling its internal administration? This was the question I asked myself, and I answered it in the negative. I said to myself it involved none of the three, and could not, therefore, be taken as breaking our pledges to Russia.
Others might not think likewise. But even if they did not, I could not see that if I agreed to the Tibetan proposals, including, as they would, the right for us to occupy the Chumbi Valley for seventy-five years, I was thereby involving Government in any fresh responsibility. I should not, for instance, be giving to the inhabitants a promise of our protection which it would be impossible for Government to repudiate. I should be simply acquiring for Government the right to occupy the Chumbi Valley for seventy-five years if they wanted to, and if they did not want to, they could go out whenever they liked. I was not “compelling the Government to occupy the Chumbi” Valley; I was simply acquiring the right, which they could abrogate if they did not want it.
Arguing thus with myself, I decided finally to seize the golden opportunity. If I let it go I knew not what might happen. The Regent might flee. The National Assembly might sulk. The Chinese might wake up and put in some obstruction. By agreeing I should be doing nothing counter to the wishes of the Government of India, for the amount of the indemnity was what they had themselves suggested, and they had on June 30,[[38]] after the pledges to Russia were given, spoken of retaining the Chumbi Valley, the occupation of which had been urged by the Bengal Government as far back as 1888. By agreeing I should also be effecting what my own experience showed me would be by far the most satisfactory permanent solution of the whole question. Chumbi is the key to Tibet. It is also the most difficult part of the road to Lhasa. Situated in the Chumbi Valley, we should have a clear run into Tibet, for the Tang-la (pass) across the watershed is an open plain several miles wide. The Chumbi Valley is the only strategical point of value in the whole north-eastern frontier from Kashmir to Burma. It was the surest guarantee for the fulfilment of the new Treaty which we could possibly get, except the establishment of an agent at Lhasa, and the obtaining of a guarantee had from the first been placed as one of the chief objects of my Mission.
Our main object was to put our relations with the Tibetans on a permanently satisfactory basis. By saying “yes” to the Regent’s proposal I should be concluding a settlement which would admirably meet all our local requirements; which would, as they themselves had made it, best suit the Tibetans; which would not, as far as I could judge, run counter to any international obligations; and which would involve Government in no further responsibility.
I therefore turned to the Tibetans and said that, in view of the representations which had been made to me as to the difficulty of raising the money in cash, I would agree to the payment being distributed over seventy-five years. They must, however, clearly understand that under the terms of the Treaty we should retain the right to continue to occupy the Chumbi Valley till the full amount of the indemnity was paid. They said that they understood this.
I then remarked that the amount due to us was, to-day, 76 lakhs, not 75 lakhs, as two more days had elapsed since I gave them the ultimatum, and for each of those days Rs. 50,000 was chargeable. The Tongsa Penlop, however, asked that this extra lakh might be remitted, and to this I assented. The Tibetans then asked that the amount might be paid in kind—in ponies, for instance. I replied that as the amount was so small it would be better to pay it in cash, for if it were paid in ponies or other articles there would be constant disputes between us as to the value of the articles proffered, and our good relations might be jeopardized. Finally they asked that it might be paid in tangas, the local Tibetan coin. I replied that I had entered rupees in the draft Treaty, and with that they must be content.
The Ti Rimpoche then affixed his private seal to the draft Treaty.