[6] The British imperative in North East India was to open the markets of Tibet and by extension China to their manufactured textiles, tobacco, grain, tools and tea.
[8] However, the Tibetan Kashag strongly opposed British activities in Tibet and maintained a military presence along the Tibetan-Sikkim border in Lintu, leading to the cancellation of the Macaulay Mission in 1885.
[10] The Tibetan forces were then defeated, and Britain demanded that the Qing government sign a treaty to end the war.
The Qing government appointed the Assistant Minister to Tibet, Sheng Tai, to travel to Calcutta, India, on March 17, 1890, where he signed the convention with Lord Lansdowne.
The line commenced at Mount Gipmochi on the Bhutan frontier, and followed the above watershed to the point where it met Nepali territory.