The Shimla Convention is a Convention (treaty) officially titled the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet. It originated from a conference held in Simla and Delhi between 1913–1914, convened by the British to settle the status of Tibet and define its boundaries with British India and China. The final convention was signed on July 3, 1914, in Simla.
The Convention's key mechanism was the division of Tibet into two regions: Outer Tibet and Inner Tibet. Outer Tibet, which included Lhasa, was to remain under the Tibetan Government with Chinese suzerainty, but China was barred from interfering in its administration. Inner Tibet was to be under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government. Crucially, the Convention also defined the boundary between British India and Tibet, which became known as the McMahon Line, named after the British plenipotentiary, Sir Henry McMahon.
The Chinese plenipotentiary, Ivan Chen, refused to sign the final document on July 3, 1914, primarily due to objections over the boundary between Inner and Outer Tibet. Consequently, the Convention was signed only by the representatives of Great Britain and Tibet, Lonchen Ga-den Shatra Pal-jor Dorje. The Convention is directly connected to the ongoing Sino-Indian border dispute, as China rejects the validity of the McMahon Line, which forms the de facto boundary in the Eastern Sector, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh. The Convention itself has not been replaced, but China's non-recognition of the McMahon Line remains the core of the dispute.