(NewsSpace.com) – There are multiple skirmishes happening across the world. In the Middle East, Israel is doing its best to eradicate the militant group Hamas. In Eastern Europe, Russia is trying to annex Ukrainian land. Yemen’s Houthis are aiming at ships in the Red Sea, drawing retaliatory strikes from the United States and the United Kingdom. Then, on the border of India and China, goat herders are facing off against soldiers.
History of the Border Row
Relations between the Asian nations of China and India have been troubled for decades. It started in 1962, when the two nations fought a war over which country was the rightful owner of a 2,100-mile section of the border known as the “Line of Actual Control.” India was soundly defeated, but that didn’t stop the nation from pursuing its interests.
Despite military talks over the past several years, tensions have continued to persist. In June 2020, Chinese and Indian patrols in India’s Galwan Valley got into a violent fight, the first in nearly 50 years, involving fists, stones, and clubs. In the end, at least four Chinese soldiers and 20 Indian troops died.
In December 2022, the two sides fought again, this time in Arunachal Pradesh, an Eastern Indian state. China claims that land as its own and refers to it as South Tibet. Fighting began again as each side accused the other of encroaching on its territory. Now, there’s been another confrontation.
Goat Herders Confront Soldiers
On January 23, a Ladakh villager posted a video on Instagram showing a confrontation that took place earlier that month between goat herders and Chinese soldiers in a section of land that’s disputed. Chinese soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conduct regular patrols in the area that it claims is part of its Tibet Autonomous Region. The confrontation occurred because goat herders let their flocks graze the land.
According to Newsweek, one of the herders was asking the PLA, “Why have you come here? Why have you brought your vehicles here?” and proceeded to tell the troops that the land is ancestral and integral to its grazing. It then escalated from words to violence when the herdsmen started throwing stones at the soldiers in a display of an obvious connection to the land.
India has yet to comment publicly on the matter and has not acknowledged that the standoff occurred.
According to a May 2023 analysis by the United States Institute of Peace, it may be a conflict that the US gets involved in sooner or later.
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