A violent standoff between Indian and Chinese troops is taking a toll on traditional goat herds that supply the world’s finest cashmere wool. The latest standoff has come as a major blow for the Changpa, the nomadic herders who rear the Pashmina goats. Here we take a look at how the livelihoods of many people depend on pashmina shawls. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
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Nomads have roamed these lands atop the roof of the world for centuries, herding the famed and hardy goats that produce the ultra-soft wool known as Pashmina, the finest of cashmeres. Artisans weave the wool into fine yarn and exquisite shawls that cost up to $1,000 apiece in world fashion capitals in a major handicraft export industry that employs thousands. This is a file photo of an elderly man belonging to the Changpa, the nomadic herders who rear the Pashmina goats. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
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Pashmina threads spun on plastic straws lie inside a wooden box near a loom in Srinagar. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
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Gulzar Ahmed Want, a Kashmiri artisan, weaves a pashmina shawl on a loom inside his home in Srinagar. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
Pashmina threads hang on a loom in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, June 13, 2020. For most of the year the Changpa raise their herds in the vast cold desert of the Changtang plateau of Ladakh, which straddles Tibet at over 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) above sea level. The harsh, windy climate is what causes the goats to grow their super-soft wool. (image: AP/Dar Yasin)
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An artisan checks the quality of a pashmina shawl inside his home in Srinagar. According to the herders, around 1,200 Changpa families have lost access to grazing lands even in the areas that are controlled by the Indian military due to the confrontation. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
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Abdul Later Allie, a Kashmiri artisan, checks the quality of pashmina shawls inside his home in Srinagar. (Image: AP/Dar Yasin)
