Ladakh, a pristine paradise on earth, is again making news, but all for wrong reasons. A total of 20 Indian Army personnel were killed during a violent clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Monday night, escalating the already volatile border standoff between the two sides, an army statement said.
Let’s take a quick view on four features which highlight Ladakh’s strategic significance for our nation and these comprise the reasons why Ladakh has become our Neighbour’s envy. Also these points feature how China’s preying eyes on Ladakh clipped the prospects of international trade from this region:
Ladakh recently became a union territory: Ladakh, until 2019, was a part of Jammu and Kashmir which recently became a union territory in 2019. The Parliament of India passed an Act by which Ladakh was declared a union territory on October 31 , 2019
It’s location has been under preying eyes of neighbouring nations: Ladakh has been a disputed subject since 1947 as it is surrounded by Pakistan and Chinese borders. The Chinese Tibet Autonomous Region surrounds it from east while PoK region Gilgit-Balkistan surround it from the western borders. From southern side, it is surrounded by China’s Xinjiang. Aksai Chin plains stretching from eastern end of Ladakh have been under Chinese control since the year 1962.
Its strategic significance was killed by China by blocking its borders with Tibet: Ladakh, In the past, shared a strategic importance as it shared important trade routes, however, later in 1960s, the Chinese authorities closed the borders with Tibet and Central Asia bringing down the international trade here except the tourism which flourished when everything else dwindled. Thereafter since 1974, the Indian government has given a big boost to tourism.
China also occupied Aksi Chin after 1962 war: The dispute over Ladakh started wayback in 1949 when China closed the borders between Nubra in Ladakh and Xinjiang while blocking all old trade routes, however in 1955, it started building roads linking Xinjiang and Tibet via Aksai Chin. The 1962 Sino-Indian war was the result of India’s efforts to retain Aksai Chin area.
Ladakh is one amongst the most sparsely populated regions in India whose culture and history are closely related to tibet.
Two of its districts are Leh and Kargil. While Leh contains Indus, Shyok and Nubra river valleys, Kargil contains Suru, Dras and Zanskar river valleys which are lured by tourists from world across.
After killing it via trade route, seems the border country now wants to capture our terrains which we shall never let it happen. Vande Mataram!