从列城到唐泽（距中印争议边境不到50公里）的行程，从曾经约一周、甚至五年前仍需一整天，缩短到11月约4小时，途中翻越海拔约17,600英尺的昌拉山口。2020年加勒万河谷冲突（50多年来最严重的一次）后，双方快速增兵并加速修建基础设施，使高海拔机动显著提速。
冲突将关系推至“1962年战争以来最低点”：直航停飞5年、旅游中断、投资受限，但8月莫迪自2018年以来首次访华、10月直航恢复，显示出部分回暖。2024年末双方同意在德普桑与德姆乔克两处恢复每周徒步巡逻，并将相遇距离控制在300米以上；据称5月与巴基斯坦的4天战争期间，印度甚至能从实控线方向调走2个旅。
2020年印度在拉达克仅有1个师，如今规模已超过两倍并增配装甲旅，同时在11月中旬启用距实控线仅25公里的尼奥玛新机场并加强常设防空。列城海拔约11,500英尺，士兵需约2周完全适应，仓促部署可能使战力下降30%；过去一年中国在东拉达克兵力减半，却可在仅2个夜晚内将后方兵力推至前沿，且自2020年以来边境建筑增长10倍、建设速度至少为印度的4倍（包括2024年7月启用的班公湖新桥与海拔17,660英尺的萨瑟拉山口新路），但稀薄空气与约零下10摄氏度的严寒也持续抬高作战成本。
A trip from Leh to Tangtse (less than 50km from the disputed China frontier) fell from about a week, to a full day five years ago, to roughly four hours in November, crossing Chang La at around 17,600 feet. After the 2020 Galwan clash—the worst in more than 50 years—both sides surged troops and infrastructure, making high-altitude movement markedly faster.
The clash drove ties to their lowest point since the 1962 war: direct flights stopped for five years and tourism and investment were curtailed, but Modi visited in August for the first time since 2018 and flights restarted in October. A late-2024 deal restored weekly foot patrols at two sites (Depsang and Demchok) while keeping forces at least 300 metres apart; during the four-day India–Pakistan war in May, India reportedly diverted two brigades from the LAC.
India had one division in Ladakh in 2020 and now has more than twice that plus an armoured brigade, with a new Nyoma airbase opened in mid-November just 25km from the LAC and more permanent air defences. At 11,500 feet in Leh, troops need two weeks to acclimatise and rushing in can cut effective strength by 30%; China has halved its eastern-Ladakh forces in the past year yet can reinforce in only two nights, and Chinese border structures are up ten-fold since 2020 with infrastructure development at least four times India’s (including a July 2024 Pangong bridge and a 17,660-foot Saser La road), though thin air and roughly −10°C cold keep mountain warfare costly.
Source: A fragile thaw at the top of the world
Subtitle: The Economist gained rare access to India’s tense border with China
Dateline: 12月 31, 2025 03:51 上午 | Karu, Leh and Tangtse