Livestock is one of the mainstays of Ladakh's domestic economy, with the yak and the goat being the two most important animals. Yaks are shaggy, short-statured, sturdy and sure footed animals of prodigious strength, capable of negotiating the steepest of slopes, narrow frozen tracks and the coldest of climes. Feeding on the snow and on small shrubs in the craggy terrain, they yield milk for butter, hair for ropes and tents, hide for boots, aprons and baskets, horns for agricultural implements, dung for fuel and meat for sustenance, thereby becoming the most important animal in the arctic zone. The goats of the eastern region of Chang Thang have extremely fine, long staple fleece, pashm famed for its end product of pashmina shawls. Its other products too help in the sustenance of daily life. Zanskari ponies are famous for their speed, strength and stamina and, therefore, make excellent vehicles of transport and are unequalled for the sport of Ladakhi polo.

The issue of sustainable development is much talked about today in Ladakh. Several governmental and non-governmental organizations are striving to achieve self-reliance in the next 20 years in this region. Ladakh had been a self-reliant nation for centuries, but processes of modernisation, the tourism industry, the Army and subsidised rations in the last few decades have overwhelmed this sustainability. The deployment of the Army for the last five decades in the region has gone through several stages, and the Army has touched every aspect of Ladakhs life, economy, employment and the environment.

Many indigenous products have lost their market. Villages that were once entirely reliant on agriculture now depend on subsidised Army services and black market goods. The military is the biggest employer locally not just of soldiers, but porters, vegetable growers, road workers and other workers.

Ladakh owes much of its road connectivity to the fact that it is located on the Pakistan and China borders. Today most Ladakhi villages are connected with roads, mostly thanks to the Army. By comparison, the nearby region of Zangskar has much less and rougher roads, and is not located near any Line Of Control (LOC) or border.

Few Ladakhis consider that this easy come could turn out to be an easy go at any time. If peace breaks out between India and Pakistan leading to downsizing the armed forces on the border, many Ladakhi villages would then be in trouble. Hundreds of youth would suddenly become jobless finding no place for themselves in society. The economy would face the danger of a rude collapse.

Ladakh’s economy is also impacted heavily by the need to maintain a parallel market that caters to the Army personnel. Army deployment in the area has further increased post-Kargil. On its part, the Army, under Operation Sadbhavana, is contributing immensely to women’s empowerment, computer literacy and education in the backward Kargil, Drass, Turtuk and other border villages. Despite an effort to preserve the regional identity, the face of Ladakh has been changing drastically. The need to battle this trend has led to the birth of NGOs working together to develop alternatives to global economy.