MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India has an order been sent to the Government of India directing hostilities to be undertaken in Tibet; and, if so, was the order absolute or contingent on events; what was the date of such order, if any, and when will a copy thereof be laid upon the Table of the House; has the consent of the Tibetan Government now been asked for to the entry of a Mission, with an armed escort and guns, into Tibetan territory.
§ MR. BRODRICKNo order directing hostilities to be undertaken in Tibet has been sent to the Government of India, but Colonel Younghusband has been instructed to defend the Mission should it be attacked. Having regard to the persistent failure of the Tibetan Government to negotiate, His Majesty's Government did not make the advance of the Mission dependent on their consent.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESThen does my right hon. friend say that to send an armed expedition into that country is not a hostile act?
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! That is a debatable matter of opinion.