Hyderabad: The Royal Line of Control between India and China is crackling with the movement of modern artillery on both sides, but neither side can do without a lowly animal, the mule from the Indian side and the yak from the Chinese. It is a dependency that dates back decades, even before the 1962 war.
Sources familiar with the events on the border say that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) relies heavily on yaks. In fact, it has a dedicated yak unit that transports men and material through impenetrable mountain passes.
Just as the Indian army relies on mules and ponies, Chinese troops cannot do without yaks and continue to “recruit” the best breeds, which happen to be Tibetans.
It is a versatile animal for PLA. “PLA soldiers drink yak milk and eat yak butter, both of which are very nutritious. They are also cures for various ailments. Yak blood is rich in protein and raw yak meat is very nutritious, ”said a source.
“Although PLA soldiers kill and eat yaks, they do so mainly when an animal is accidentally killed or old and no longer useful to them, although there have been cases where they have stolen yaks from the local population in Tibet. They also use yaks.” PLA soldiers have survived in the mountains not because of their technological advances but because of the yaks that even provide warmth to the soldiers who sleep next to them in the harsh winter, “the sources said.
The PLA considers the yak to be a symbol of good luck, success and strength. According to feng shui, a traditional practice that originated in ancient China, the head and tail of a yak symbolize good luck. The head symbolizes strength.
What makes the yak an animal that is best adapted to the mountains is its huge respiratory system. Its blood absorbs more oxygen than other cattle, allowing it to survive in the rarefied air. Yaks hardly sweat.
Veterans who served in the Indian Army say the PLA is so susceptible to yaks that it will not hesitate to go to war for them.
In fact, a lost herd of 59 yaks and some 800 sheep sparked tensions between the two countries in 1965. It led to a border conflict in Sikkim in 1967. There were heated exchanges between soldiers about yaks and sheep after the PLA accused Indian forces stealing animals from Tibetan herders on the Sikkim border, “recalled a former army officer working in LAC.
Although there have been suspicions that the PLA is sending yaks and sheep into Indian territory equipped with spy tools, the Indian army, distrustful of the PLA’s designs, has not found any concrete evidence of this.
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