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Flash Back March 1997
Arunachal sentinel on McMahon line
The McMahon line is a configuration of an imaginary line drawn on the Himalayan range towards its eastern extremity of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, drafted by Sir Henry McMahon, was accepted as the dividing line between India and Tibet at the tripartite conference held in 1914 at Simla by the then British India, China and Tibet. The Tibetan representative Mr. Lohchen Shatra accepted the proposal and signed it. The Chinese representative Mr. Ivan Chan did not and kept their decision pending.
The question of validity of the McMahon line was raised by China after ten years of India’s independence. Even in 1929 when the Simla convention of 1914 was published in Achaesons Treaties it was not challenged by the Chinese authorities. China had later not only refused formal recognition of the McMahon line but claimed all of Arunachal Pradesh up to the Himalayan foothills and declared this a ‘disputed territory’.
During the British regime, Arunachal Pradesh, known as the North East Frontier Tract formed part of Assam. The ruins of Bhishmaknagar, Malinithan among others only prove that since time immemorial, Arunachal formed part of Indian culture and polity.
After India’s independence in 1947, the territory of Arunachal Pradesh witnessed transition from ...........
