"ملف A/5 مصائد اللؤلؤ بالخليج العربي" [و‎‎٩] (٦٢/١٧)

Enclosure No. 1.
India Ofrioe to Foreign Office.
ENCLOSURES.
Sir,
India Office,
30th June 1904;.
I am directed hy Mr. Secretary Brodrick to forward, to be laid
before the Marquess of Lansdowne, a copy of a letter from the Govern
ment of India in the Secret Department, No. 63, dated 10th March
1904, on the subject of the policy to be pursued in order to prevent any
interference by foreign enterprise with the rights enjoyed by the tribes
under our protection in the pearl fisheries on tlie Arabian Coast of the
Persian Gulf.
The attention of the Government of India has agnin been called to
the question by the proceedings of two Frenchmen who visited Bahrein
in K!03. with the intention o!" prospecting the pearl fisheries round the
island The Chief of Bahrain refused to entertain their proposals, but
it is reported that they are taking steps to procure from Europe the-
means of conducting fishing operations. No immediate action is
necessary, but; having regard to the serious nature of the situation"
which would arise if interlopers commenced fishing operations on pearl
banks in respect of which the tribes would look to us to defend their
monopoly, the Government of India request the opinion of His Majesty's
Government on the policy to be pursued in the event of such a
contingency arising.
The question oi policy, as the Government of India indicate, is
governed by that of the extent of the legal powers of intervention
against foreign intrusion possessed by the British Government in virtue
of their agreements with the tribes. The result of these agreements,
under which the use of armed boats by the Ch efs is prohibited, has
been to impose on us the responsibility for the maintenance of order in
these waters, and the obligation to defend, so far as they can reasonably
be substantiated, the rights of the tribes in the fisheries*
A report by the Legal Adviser to this Office on the questions of law
raised in the Government of India's Despatch is enclosed, and Mr.
Brodrick would suggest that the matter should b^ submitted to the
Law Officers of the Crown with a view to ascertain the extent to which
the Government of India might be authorised to intervene against
interlopers, whether foreigners or British subjects, should the necessity
arise. There can be no question, in Mr. Brodrick's opinion, of tho
- ~ extreme desirability of securing to the tribes in the future the monopoly
which they have hitherto enjoyed.
The material facts may be stated as follows : —
1. Tho pearl fishery banks lie off the Arabian Coast of the Persian
Gulf. They extend, as shown on the charts enclosed with the Govern
ment of India's Despatch, from Umm-ui-Kawain to near the head of the
Gult. His Majesty's Government has agreements wiih the Arab Chiefs
of Ras-al-Khaimah, Umm-al-Kawain, Ajman, Shargah, D.-hai, Abu
Drhabi and Bahrein, by which the Chiefs have practically sur.-endeied
their foreign relations into the hands of the British Government. The
question of making a similar agreement with the Sheikh of El Katr is
now under the consideration of His Majesty's Government. North of
* Bahrein the sovereignty over the western shore of the Gulf belongs to
the Sultan of Turkey, with the exception of the territories of the Sheikh
of Koweit, whose special relations with His Majesty's Government are
known to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.