BRITAIN- CHINA CONVENTION 17.03.1890

Whereas HER MAJESTY the QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN and IRLAND, EMPEROR OF INDIA, and HIS MAJESTY the EMPEROR OF CHINA, are sincerely desirous to maintain and perpetuate the relation of friendships and good understanding which now exist between their respective Empires,
And whereas recent occurrences have tended towards a disturbance of the said relations, and it is desirable to clearly define and permanently settle certain matters connected with the boundary between SIKKIM and TIBET, BRITANNIC MAJESTY and HIS MAJESTY the EMPERROR of CHINA have resolved to conclude a Convention on this subject and have, for this purpose, named plenipotentiaries that is to say;
HER MAJESTY the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, HIS EXELLENCY the MOST HON’BLE HENRY CHARLES KEITH PEETY FITZMAURICE, G.M.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.M.I.E., Marques of Lansdowne, viceroy and Governor- General of India.

And His Majesty the Emperor of China, HIS EXELLANCY SHENGTAJ, Imperial Associate Residence in Tibet, Military Deputy Lieutenant- Governor.

Who having met the communicated to each other their full powers, and finding these to be in proper form, having agreed upon the following convention in Eight Articles.

I. The boundary of Sikkim and Tibet shall be the crest of the mountain range separating the waters following into Sikkim Teesta and it’s affluent from the waters flowing into the Tibet Mochu and northwards into other rivers of Tibet. The line commences at Mount Gimpmochi on the Bhootan frontier and follows the above mentioned water parting to the point where it meets Nepaul Territory.
II. It is admitted that the British Government, whose protectorate over Sikkim State is hereby recognized, has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that state, and except through and with the permission of the British Government, neither the Ruler of the State nor any of its officers shall have official relations of any kind, formal or informal with any other county.
III. The Government of Great Britain and Ireland and the Government of China engage reciprocally to respect the boundary as defined in Article I, and to prevent acts of aggression from their respective sides of the frontier.
IV. The question of providing increased facilities for trade across the Sikkim- Tibet frontier will hereafter discussed with a view to a mutually satisfactory arrangement by High Contracting powers.
V. The questions of pasturage on the Sikkim side of the frontier is resolved for further examination and future adjustment.
VI. The High Contracting powers reserve for discussion and arrangement the method in which official communications between the British authorities in India and the authorities in Tibet shall be conducted.
VII. Two joint Commissioners shall, within six months from the rectification of this Convection, be appointed one by the British Government in India the other by the Chinese Residence in Tibet. The said Commissioners shall meet and discuss the questions which by the last three preceding Articles have been reserved.
VIII. The present Convection shall be ratified, and the ratification shall be exchanged In London as soon as possible after the date of the signature thereof.

In witness hereof the respective negotiators have sighed the same and affixed their unto the seals of their arms.

Done in quadruplicate at Calcutta this seventeenth day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight hundred and Ninety, corresponding with the Chinese date the Twenty seventh day of the second moon of the sixteenth year of Kuang Hsu.

Sd/- Sheng Taj sd/-Lansdowne
Chinese Seal and Signature viceroy and governor general

COMPILED FROM SIKKIM DARJEELNG COMPENDIUM OF DCUMENTS