India has deployed 50,000 troops after hundreds of Chinese troops encroached upon what India perceives to be its side of the border. The Chinese troops were stopped after a conflict involving branches, bricks, and iron bars.

Two-and-a-half years after a fatal clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley, Ladakh, another brawl has erupted. This time it was over ownership of a remote, 5200m-high mountain peak at Yangtse, Tawang. While 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese troops died in the 2020 clash, confused reports suggest this incident was less brutal, although “as many as 30” Indians may have been seriously injured.

Now it appears that another possibly more intense conflict between China and India is inevitable.

The “physical scuffle” reportedly resulted when a Chinese patrol encountered an Indian garrison and attempted to force their way past using iron rods, spiked clubs and tasers. Firearms were avoided as this could have triggered an escalation of hostilities, including artillery and combat aircraft. -News

The location of clash is important. China has been repeatedly trying to take control of a 17,000 feet high peak.
So far India is firm control of peak.
👇Chinese location at the base of an approach route to the peak top. pic.twitter.com/zSRhU2Q2RW

— Ajay Banerjee (@ajaynewsman) December 13, 2022

The incident came as India’s parliament sat in New Delhi, sparking an angry debate over “complacency”, “diplomatic failings” and “preparations for war”. But military analysts are using the renewed fighting to highlight Beijing’s relentless build-up of military barracks, bases, and artillery emplacements along the 3500km border. And the rapid construction of roads and bridges leading towards the disputed “Line of Actual Control”.

In June, Beijing called on New Delhi to put aside border disputes and restore diplomatic and economic ties. This seemed promising as the most recent border incidents – in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2020 – had all been under Xi’s rule. No clashes had been recorded since the mid-1980s.

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🚨Chinese media started reporting on Tawang clash:

Most of the news channels repeating the spokesperson statement

Sen Col Long Shaohua spokesperson for the Western Theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army made a statement on our routine patrol in the Dongzhang area pic.twitter.com/CVsz5Bm0q2

— OsintTV📺 (@OsintTV) December 14, 2022

The ongoing military build-up near India has reignited fears that this is conflict is one of the “regional wars” Xi now intends to win, however how brutally.

An undated video of a clash between Indian & Chinese soldiers being shared widely in the context of the Tawang incident. Not clear where or when this video is from, but clearly not from Dec 9 incident. Don't remember seeing it before though. OSINT/Experts? pic.twitter.com/aAKOeNlBBa

— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) December 13, 2022

A clash seems inevitable. Especially since India has now upped the ante. The Indian Government went ahead with a pre-scheduled test of one of its most lethal weapons. It was a nuclear ballistic missile that could reach any part of China. They paraded this weapon around a mere two days after the a clash over the disputed land.

Indian media has called this weapon the “China-killer,” while state-run Chinese papers described it as a “dwarf” compared to Beijing’s own missiles. “The missile will add great value to the defense and strengthen national security to a greater extent,” India’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted after the launch.