https://www.scmp.com/rss/506635/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com For generations, Gyalson and his family have lived in Chushul in India’s Ladakh region, near the disputed border with China. But the 50-year-old herder, from the Changpa nomadic community, is now considering leaving his home and settling somewhere else as a face-off between troops from both sides continue. The situation has raised fears among villagers of a full-blown conflict. Both sides went to war in 1962 over their border. “We don’t have access to our grazing lands and it is becoming... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3152210/india-china-border-conflict-ladakh-villagers-want-be-relocated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3152210/india-china-border-conflict-ladakh-villagers-want-be-relocated?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Oct 2021 09:45:19 +0000 Amid a drizzle and gusts of chilly wind, Anika pulls taut a rope tied to a shovel held by Chandrika as they mix a pile of cement with sand by the side of the road. The women, both in their early 20s, have their babies fastened to their backs by a sheet of cloth while they work near the mountain pass of Khardung La – which at an elevation of more than 17,000 feet is one of the world’s highest motorable passes – in India’s Ladakh region. Hailing from neighbouring Nepal, they are among the hundreds... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3145658/hundreds-workers-flock-roof-world-india-pushes-infrastructure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3145658/hundreds-workers-flock-roof-world-india-pushes-infrastructure?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Aug 2021 09:00:10 +0000 Unlike previous years, the arrival of winter does not bring much hope to Gyalson, a trader in Demchok, one of the last Indian villages before the border with China in the Ladakh region. Life can be hard in this mountainous, high-altitude territory, where temperatures can fall up to minus 40 degrees Celsius. But for traders like Gyalson, 47, winter means business. Heavy snowfall and landslides cut the connectivity between villages and the regional capital Leh, around 300km to the west, meaning... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3106869/china-india-tensions-hit-silk-road-border-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3106869/china-india-tensions-hit-silk-road-border-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Oct 2020 03:30:15 +0000 Every evening, Urgain Chodon stares at the dots twinkling on the mountain across the river, and curses her luck. The lights are bulbs shining from the structures on the Chinese side of the border, and they fill her with sadness. Chodon, 30, lives in Koyal, a village on the banks of Senge Zangbu, a tributary of the Indus River, which divides the Himalayan region of Ladakh into India and China. Tucked away in the rugged mountains, the village has a population of around 420 inhabitants, but lacks... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093939/indias-ladakh-stone-age-envying-china-makes-life-harder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093939/indias-ladakh-stone-age-envying-china-makes-life-harder?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jul 2020 10:00:18 +0000