India ramps up Himalayan border defences after deadly China clashes

On the winding road up to India's Himalayan frontier is a postcard view of gushing streams and tranquil lakes -- punctuated occasionally by the sight of artillery barrels and military bunkers.

A year after deadly high-altitude clashes with Chinese soldiers, India is ramping up its border defences along a treacherous mountain range that has long been a flashpoint between the two countries.

Arunachal Pradesh straddles the other side of the Himalayas from Tibet and shares a common Buddhist cultural heritage with its northern neighbour. 

The Dalai Lama fled through the state in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in his homeland and has lived in India ever since.

Beijing also claims ownership of Arunachal Pradesh -- which it refers to as South Tibet -- and briefly occupied most of the territory, three years after the Buddhist leader's flight, in a short but bloody war.

Tensions have flared again since mid-2020 when troops from both nations fought a hand-to-hand battle further west along their shared frontier in Ladakh, leaving at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.

Each side routinely sends patrols into areas claimed or controlled by the other, and India has also accused China of establishing permanent settlements near the border.

"We have observed some infrastructure development on the Chinese side," Lieutenant General Manoj Pande told journalists during a rare press tour through the region last month.