Indian goat herders were confronted by Chinese soldiers on the two countries’ disputed border last month after being prevented from grazing their livestock on the sparsely populated plateau.
An Instagram video posted last week by villagers in Ladakh, a border region in northeastern India on the western edge of the 2,100-mile Line of Actual Control, finds locals in the middle of a decades-old territorial dispute with New Delhi. It was a moment in time. Along with Beijing.
China and India fought a bloody border war in 1962 and have been locked in a bitter standoff across the LAC for four years, particularly in eastern Ladakh, which escalated significantly in 2020 with deadly Galwan Valley clashes. Lives were lost. 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers.
The latest incident came to light on Tuesday when Konchok Stanzin, a village councilor from Chushul, about 30 miles away, shared the footage on his social media account X (formerly Twitter).
India administers Ladakh as a Special Administrative Region, also known as a ‘Union Territory’. China claims that part of the territory is within the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers on the fluid border are now on land once considered traditional grazing land by local Ladakhi communities, including the pastoral land known as Kakujung, where the January 2 clashes took place. They regularly patrol the area.
The permanent presence of Chinese troops in this region is quite large. There is a PLA encampment at Demchok, about 30 miles south of Kakujung, and another PLA base at Lutog, 59 miles to the east. China considers the two border villages to be part of Xinjiang and Tibet.
“Why did you come here? Why did you bring your car here? This is our ancestral land. We graze our livestock here,” said one pastoralist. was heard asking in Tibetan, a language also spoken by local Ladakhis.
As the disagreement escalated, villagers threw stones at the Chinese soldiers, images showed.
In the video, some of the PLA soldiers who intercepted and filmed the goat herders also speak Tibetan. newsweek Confirmed. They were probably Tibetans recruited into the Chinese army for their local knowledge of the border region. One person was wearing a jacket that said “US Air Force.”
The Chinese embassy in New Delhi did not respond to a written request for comment.
Konchok Stanjin/X
Ishay Sparzan, a councilor from Nyoma village, which governs Kakujung, told The Indian Press. hinduism The disputed area is within the LAC, which is claimed by India, and the delineation of the area is a point of contention with China.
“This is a valley and is essential for winter grazing of cattle. In early 2019, the Chinese side tried to stop the herders, but we pitched tents and staked our claim.” Sparzan told the newspaper.
In a post on X, he said: “Look at how the locals are showing courage in front of the People’s Liberation Army. They claim that the areas they are stopping are the grazing lands of our nomads. The People’s Liberation Army is preventing our nomads from grazing on our territory.”
The rare act of defiance highlighted deep-rooted ties to the local land, which faces increasing challenges from Beijing’s claims.
About 10 days after the incident, local officials, members of the Indian Army and Border Police visited the grazing area. hinduism he said on Tuesday. The Indian government has not disclosed the conflict and has not yet publicly commented on the issue.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.