The kids aren’t all right: India-China border row hits global cashmere production
- Tens of thousands of kids are dying as the border row pushes the pashmina goats out of their grazing lands, officials say
- Wool from pashmina goats is the most expensive and coveted cashmere in the world
Wool from pashmina goats, reared by nomads in the inhospitable high-altitude cold desert region of Ladakh, is the most expensive and coveted cashmere in the world.
But the shaggy creatures that provide the yarn are being pushed out of their grazing lands in the tussle between the nuclear-armed neighbours, causing the death of tens of thousands of kids this season, locals and officials said.
“In about three years, when the newborn goats would have started yielding pashmina, we will see a significant drop in production,” said Sonam Tsering of the All Changtang Pashmina Growers Cooperative Marketing Society.
There have been numerous face-offs and brawls between Chinese and Indian soldiers over their 3,500km frontier, which has never been properly demarcated.