Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship
The Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship was an official settlement between the governments of Nepal and China signed on 28 April 1960, which ratified an earlier agreement on the borders separating the neighboring nations from each other. Gerry Van Tronder has argued that this document fitted into an attempt to maintain the image that Beijing was a "powerful but essentially benevolent leader in Asia", following the 1959 Tibetan Uprising.[1] Contemporary Nepali, Chinese and Indian commentators have stressed the importance of the treaty in determining Nepal's relationship with China in the past and present.
Historical background
Immediately after
Border Treaty March 1960
The immediate run-up to the signing of the treaty between the governments of Nepal and China was recently elected Nepalese prime minister
Text of the treaty
The text of the treaty was as follows:[10]
The Chairman of the People's Republic of China and His Majesty the King of Nepal, desiring to maintain and further develop peace and friendship between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal. Convinced that the strengthening of good-neighborly relations and friendly co-operation between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal is in accordance with the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and conducive to the consolidation of peace in Asia and the world, have decided for this purpose to conclude the present Treaty in accordance with the Five Principles of peaceful co-existence jointly affirmed by the two countries, and have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries: The Chairman of the People's Republic of China: Premier Chou En-lai of the State Council, His Majesty the King of Nepal: Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala. THE above-mentioned Plenipotentiaries, having examined each other's credentials and found them in good and due form, have agreed upon the following:
Article I The Contracting Parties recognize and respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other.
Article II The Contracting Parties will maintain and develop peaceful and friendly relations between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal. They undertake to settle all disputes between them by mean of peaceful negotiation.
Article III The Contracting Parties agree to develop and further strengthen the economic and cultural ties between the two countries in a spirit of friendship and co-operation, in accordance with the principles of equality and mutual benefit and of non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
Article IV Any difference or dispute arising out of the interpretation or application of the present Treaty shall be settled by negotiation through normal diplomatic channel.
Article V This present Treaty is subject to ratification and the instruments of ratification will be exchanged in Peking as soon as possible. The present Treaty will come into force immediately on the exchange of the instruments of ratification and will remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless either of the Contracting Parties gives to the other notice in writing to terminate the Treaty at least one year before the expiration of this period, it will remain in force without any specified time limit, subject to the right of either of the Contracting Parties to terminate it by giving to the other in writing a year's notice of its intention to do so.
Done in duplicate in Kathmandu on the twenty-eighth day of April 1960, in the Chinese, Nepali and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Nepal.
Mustang Incident June 1960
However, hopes of a successful treaty were feared to be short-founded following an "incident" that occurred in the demilitarised zone of the
Sino-Nepal Border Treaty 1961
On 5 October 1961, another border treaty between China and Nepal was signed by Liu Shao-chi and Mahendra that superseded the previous one from March 21, 1960. Although the text of this treaty only specifically mentions the March 21, 1960, Treaty rather than the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, it attributes the "over-all settlement of the boundary question" to "friendly consultations" such as 28 April 1960 Treaty.[15] The cumulative effect of these treaties has been argued by Elleman and others to have detrimentally affected Nepal and China's relationship with India, with many changes from the 1961 Treaty particularly objectionable and vigorously opposed.[16]
Significance during Sino-Indian War of 1962
Although Article I and Article II of the treaty only applied to direct relations between Nepal and China, it is unclear in exactly what ways they might have applied to Nepal during the
Significance during the modern era
Sanju believes that the Treaty represented Nepal's importance as a buffer state to India from China and was the first affirmation of China's military strategy for Nepal, in that it was seen as a fundamental part of "China's inner security ring" and "cannot be spared to any regional or global power".[20] Recently, Nepalese journalists and military personnel have stressed the significance of the Treaty in proving a history of successful co-operation between the two nations.[21] Both Chinese and Indian sources have stressed the importance of this agreement in allowing for later co-operation, such as Nepal supporting the PRC's membership of the UN in 1971 and Nepal's agreement to join the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017.[22][23]
Works cited
- Adhikari, Monalisa, Between the Dragon and the Elephant: Nepal's Neutrality Conundrum, Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, New Delhi, 2012, Vol. 25, Issue 1/2
- Bhasin, Avtra Singh, Nepal’s Relations with India and China, Siba Exim Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, 1994,
- Bhattarai, Niranjan, Nepal and China- A Historical Perspective, Adroit Publishers, New Delhi, 2010,
- Dabhade, M., Coping with challenges to sovereignty: Sino-Indian rivalry and Nepal's foreign policy, Contemporary South Asia, New Delhi, 2004, Vol. 13, Issue 2
- Elleman, Bruce, Kotkin, Stephen, Schofield, Clive, Beijing's Power and China's Borders: Twenty Neighbors in Asia, M.E. Sharpe Inc., New York, 2013
- Fravel, M. Taylor, Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008
- Ghimire, Safal, The Politics of Peacebuilding: Emerging Actors and Security Sector Reform in Conflict-Affected States, Routledge, New Delhi, 2019
- Gurung, Sanju, How has Nepal maintained neutrality, and why? School of Politics and International Relations- University of Kent, Canterbury, 2014
- Hyer, Eric, The Pragmatic Dragon: China’s Grand Strategy and Boundary Settlements, UBC Press, Vancouver, 2015
- Panikar, Kavalam Madhava, In Two Chinas: Memoirs of a Diplomat, Hyperion Press Inc, Connecticut, 1955
- Rose, Leo E., Nepal; Strategy for Survival, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1971
- Rowland, John, A History of Sino-Indian Relations, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, 1987
- Singh, R. S. N., The Unmaking of Nepal, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi, 2010
- Tuladhar, Daman. R, Contemporary Nepal (1945-55), Laxmi Publication, Kathmandu, 1965
- Van Tronder, Gerry, Sino-Indian War: Border Clash: October–November 1962, Pen and Sword Military, Barnsley, 2018
References
- ISBN 9781526728388.
- S2CID 154957958.
- ^ Panikar, Kavalam Madhava (1955). In Two Chinas: Memoirs of a Diplomat. Connecticut: Hyperion Press Inc. p. 164.
- ^ M.S.N. Menon (5 April 2002). "Little goodwill for Nepal in India". The Tribune, India. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Tuladhar, Daman. R (1965). Contemporary Nepal (1945-55). Kathmandu: Laxmi Publication. p. 56.
- ^ Bhattarai, Niranjan (2010). Nepal and China- A Historical Perspective. New Delhi: Adroit Publishers.
- ^ Bhasin, Avtra Singh (1994). Nepal's Relations with India and China. Delhi: Siba Exim Pvt. Ltd. p. 153.
- ^ Rowland, John (1987). A History of Sino-Indian Relations. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 235–37.
- ^ "Sino-Nepal Treaties 1960 JOINT COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF PRIME MINISTER BISHWESHWAR PRASAD KOIRALA'S VISIT TO CHINA PEKING, MARCH 21, 1960".
- ISBN 9781935501282.
- ISBN 9780774826389.
- ISBN 978-1400828876.
- ISBN 9780520016439.
- ISBN 9780520016439.
- ^ Office of the Geographer (30 May 1965), International Boundary Study - China – Nepal Boundary (PDF), Bureau of Intelligence and Research, US Department of State, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2012, retrieved 14 February 2017
- ISBN 9780765627667.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - JSTOR 41950522.
- ^ "Nepal Neutrality Sino-Indian War 1962".
- JSTOR 41950522.
- ^ Gurung, Sanju (2014). How has Nepal maintained neutrality, and why?. Canterbury: School of Politics and International Relations- University of Kent. p. 23.
- ^ "Recent Nepalese Reference to Treaty".
- ^ "Indian View on Effects of Treaty". 17 July 2019.
- ISBN 9780429952180.