India is reportedly investing hundreds of millions of dollars in constructing roads, tunnels, and makeshift airstrips across the Himalayas to prepare for potential conflicts with Beijing, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Indian officials stated that this is to establish sufficient deterrence to make any potential aggressors pay a higher price.
Multiple conflicts have erupted between China and India in the Pangong Lake area, a high-altitude region straddling the two countries’ borders due to territorial disputes. While a disengagement agreement was reached in 2021 in the Pangong Lake area, both countries maintain a military presence there.
After the border clash in 2020, Beijing accelerated construction around the lake region, including radar stations, various buildings, trenches, and new bridges connecting the north and south banks. Additionally, expansion and construction of military bases near the lake have raised concerns about the possibility of future conflicts between Chinese and Indian troops.
During the same period, India rapidly upgraded its frontier outposts along the coast and expanded its road infrastructure.
The budget of the Border Roads Organization (BRO), a construction agency under the Indian Ministry of Defense responsible for border roads, has reportedly increased from $280 million in 2020 to $810 million in 2025. This agency has built thousands of miles of new roads along the border.
Furthermore, India has constructed over thirty helipads along the border and upgraded or constructed several makeshift airstrips.
The new Mudh-Nyoma Air Force Base in Ladakh, located at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet, is India’s closest airport to the China-India border, only 19 miles away from China. This base can accommodate heavier military transport aircraft, such as the US-manufactured C-130J transport plane. When the base became operational in November, an Indian Air Force commander landed one of these aircraft there. The base is intended to serve as a transit point for deploying troops and equipment to the border areas.
The “2025 China Military Power Report” released by the US Department of Defense at the end of December stated that Beijing might attempt to stabilize Sino-Indian bilateral relations by easing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). However, India remains skeptical of Chinese actions and motives, as detailed in the report.
The report mentioned, “Ongoing mutual distrust and other friction are likely to constrain the development of the bilateral relationship.”
In response to the US report, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (December 25) rebuked the conclusions, alleging distortion of China’s defense policies and attempts to sow discord in the relationship.
Analysts and officials suggest that India’s focus is not on catching up with China’s extensive infrastructure development but rather on establishing sufficient deterrence to make any further Chinese aggression costly.
“We haven’t gone overboard,” remarked retired Brigadier Amrit Pal Singh, formerly in charge of logistics for combat operations in the sensitive Ladakh region. In Ladakh, soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with batons wrapped in barbed wire at an altitude of 14,000 feet during the 2020 conflict, with Beijing capable of sending reinforcements within hours, whereas India required a week.
Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a resident senior fellow at the Australia-based Institute of Strategic Policy Research, stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that unlike occasional patrolling by Indian troops along the border before 2020, India now believes in the need for continuous, regular, and round-the-clock monitoring of Chinese activities.
India is developing projects to connect high-altitude areas with military outposts and civilian settlements that are isolated in winter. One of the grandest projects is the Zojila Tunnel, being constructed at an altitude of about 11,500 feet in northern India. This project, costing over $750 million, commenced a few months after the 2020 conflict.
Former Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda, ex-commander of the Northern Command in India, stated that the 9-mile-long Zojila Tunnel is expected to be completed in approximately two years, improving the daunting task of supplying border outposts in Ladakh. Ladakh remains cut off by heavy snow for six months each year.
Previously, supplies were transported by trucks or trains to depots in the nearby Jammu and Kashmir region, then carried by truck convoys to the capital of Leh in Ladakh. From there, smaller vehicles navigated mountain roads, and the final leg of the journey involved porters and mules carrying baskets full of goods to altitudes of up to 20,000 feet.
Each soldier requires about 220 pounds of supplies per month, including food, clothing, toothpaste, and other essentials. A post, accommodating 30 soldiers with two checkpoints and barracks, consumes approximately 13 gallons of fuel daily.
“All those things had to be man-carried to the post,” Hooda explained.
Once the new tunnel is operational, it will reduce truck transport times by several hours and enable year-round supply deliveries.