The Border as a Political Space and its Economic Correlate: The Case of McMahon Line

The border as a political space involves the issues of identity, territory and sovereignty. The political undercurrent in the border discourse makes conflict a permanent category. It becomes a contested space involving the interests of two opposing nations fighting over the determinacy of the border space. In this regard, the McMahon Line, named after the foreign secretary and negotiator of the 1914 Shimla Convention, Henry McMahon, constituted an 890 km boundary from Bhutan to Burma between Tibet and British India in the eastern Himalayan region. The Shimla Convention was attended by Henry McMahon (British India), Lonchen Shatra (Tibet) and Ivan Chen (China) to determine Tibet’s sovereignty. The exercise ended in an aporia. The political developments that took place following the Chinese annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War in 1962 complicated the border politics between India and China. Therefore, this article discusses the political dimensions of the McMahon Line and explores the cross-border economic engagement with China at Kenzamane (Zemithang Circle) and Bum La in Tawang District, Gelling (Kepangla Pass), Upper Siang District, Mechuka (Lolla Pass) and Monigong (Dumla Pass), West Siang District and Kibithoo, Anjaw District of Arunachal Pradesh, India, to transform the political territoriality of border space into an economic one. Through the mediation of economy and trade participation, this transformative act is assumed to change the perception of border space from a restrictive to a participatory one. The economy may emerge as a catalyst to initiate peace between two contesting countries.