Avani Dias and Som Patidar
Each new year, Tibetans travel to the Tawang region to visit a centuries-old Buddhist monastery to ward off evil spirits and bring prosperity and happiness.
But this sacred temple, which is said to house a painting drawn with blood from the nose of the fifth Dalai Lama, is also in one of the most disputed and militarised regions in the world.
Both India and China claim the area in the Himalayan mountains belongs to them and recently forces from each side have clashed along the disputed border — the Line of Actual Control.
Sources have told the ABC that commanders from both sides are holding resolution meetings on the ground, though experts warn there could be further clashes in coming days.
Countries like Australia have called for restraint and de-escalation.
An Indian soldier stands guard in the forecourt of the 17th century Tawang Buddhist monastery.(Reuters: Sunil Kataria)
Despite those calls, just days after the clash, the Indian Government went ahead with a pre-scheduled test of one of its most lethal weapons.
It was a nuclear ballistic missile which could reach into any part of China.
As nerves increase about a looming war with China in the South Asia region, there is concern about what will happen next between the two nuclear-powered countries.
A dispute over border 'transgressions'
The Line of Actual Control was created after the 1962 India-China War, as a de facto border in territories which both countries claim as their own.
Both sides have been locked in a bitter dispute for decades over the location of the 3,488-kilometre border, which is patrolled by soldiers from both sides.
Reports first emerged of a skirmish on Monday after one of India's biggest newspapers published an article with the claims.
It reported the conflict took place on December 9 in the Tawang Region in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the east of the country, but China says the area is part of South Tibet, which it claims.
Both sides have accused each other of trying to "transgress" or "cross" the border into their claimed territories, leading to the clash.
The day after the news broke, there was a dramatic sitting in India's parliament where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed details of the event.
"The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented [China's] People's Liberation Army (PLA) from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts," he said.
"The scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides."
Beijing has said the border is now stable.
"We hope that the Indian side will work with China to move in the same direction, earnestly follow through the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strictly implement the spirit of the relevant agreements signed by the two sides, and work with China to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity of the China-India border areas," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
But experts have warned the clash is an indication that there could be further tensions in the disputed border zones.
"Despite being big countries, civilisational countries as the leaders keep mentioning, [with a] good neighbourliness policy, peaceful coexistence, and all those slogans, what it tells you is actually there is a problem at the ground level," Professor in Chinese Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Srikanth Kondapalli says.
"Because they have not resolved a territorial dispute, despite years of continuous discussion.
"It tells us that big statements can be made, but when it comes to the bilateral relations, it's a different kettle of fish."
India parades a missile dubbed 'China-killer'
As concerns emerged that tensions will ramp up following the clash, the Indian government tested a nuclear capable ballistic missile this week, declaring the Bay of Bengal as a no-fly zone.
It is said to be one of India's deadliest weapons and experts say it could reach the north of China with a declared range of 5,000 kilometres.
Indian media has called it a "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 defence and strengthen national security to a greater extent," India's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted after the launch.
China appeared to respond with its own display of military might.
Ahead of the missile test, a Chinese spy ship entered the Indian Ocean and left through the Sahul Banks north-west of Australia, according to vessel monitoring sites.
The ship, named Yuan Wang 5, first raised alarm when it docked at the strategically-important Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka in August, with the US Defence Department saying it is under command of the PLA and can track satellites and missile launches.
China says the ship is being used for scientific research.
Professor Kondapalli warns "these are contentious issues which there is no solution".
"So the argument is that we now have to use military means for resolving this problem and that has really resulted in what can be [described] as armed coexistence between these two big countries in Asia," he said.
Defence technology company Apasteron has told the ABC that the Indian Army has asked it to develop non-lethal weapons after the 2020 India China skirmish in Ladakh, where soldiers on both sides lost lives.
In an agreement between the two countries, firearms cannot be used at military bases along the border.
"In a series of non-lethal weapons for the Army, we first developed … metal stun baton with spikes," the company's Mohit Kumar says.
"The second product is … protective gloves, which can be used to push the enemy with electricity discharge. It is very helpful in hand-to-hand combat and gives an edge to our Army men.
"As a startup are happy to serve needs of our Army and we are expecting fresh orders of non-lethal weapons after recent clashes in which Chinese military used spiked clubs and taser guns."
China is 'sending signals' it wants a piece of the land
The Tawang region holds important spiritual and cultural value to the Tibetan people.
It is a holy site and where the sixth Dalai Lama was born in the 1600s.
In 1951, China took control of Tibet, which eventually led to the current Dalai Lama leaving the area into the Indian town of Dharamshala where he lives in exile with other members of his community.
Tawang has also traditionally been an area of resistance to Chinese rule, since it was where the current Dalai Lama hid for weeks after he fled Tibet.
So experts say the region has symbolic importance to China too.
In the same year as the annexation of Tibet, India sent hundreds into Tawang to take over the area, but China still says the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to Beijing.
Tibet has close ties with India and its Prime Minister-in-exile Penpa Tsering says China is facing a very different India to the one of that era.
"I think the belligerence from the Chinese side has also prompted India to improve its infrastructure in the Himalayas, which were not there earlier," he told the ABC.
"Now, because of China's action, India is also being driven to develop infrastructure facilities on the border areas that will enable its military to move faster because China has built a lot of infrastructure in Tibet territory.
"They have this thinking that the borders can be secured by moving people on the hinterlands in the body areas, that is why they have started many border villages along the Indian border.
"India has to be much more prepared, both militarily and psychologically, to confront China."
The Tawang region is also strategically important for both countries since the Bum La Pass, where PLA troops invaded north-east India in the 1962 war, is in this area and the territory would be important to any future Indian defence.
The latest clash between China and India was the first news of conflict since a deadly skirmish in 2020 in Ladakh, another disputed border zone in India's west.
But experts say it's unlikely this is the only clash that's happened in the last two years.
A video has gone viral on social media this week showing troops fighting with sticks and clubs, and it appears to show a previous clash between the countries in the same region.
There's no snow in the video which is an indication it's a different clash to the December 9 incident.
The ABC can't independently verify the video, but the Australian Strategic Police Institute has geo-located it to the same region where that clash occurred.
A photo posted by Defence Minister Singh on a tour of the same state of Arunachal Pradesh shows him looking at a sign titled "Face-Offs 2022", also appearing to indicate there have been other, unreported incidents this year.
"Intrusions from the Chinese side have been happening all the time… So there has always been aggressive moves by the Chinese army on the border," Tibet's Prime Minister in Exile Penpa Tsering says.
"It has been happening on many other parts of the border, which are sometimes reported, some are not reported, some are consequential, some are not so consequential, so these have been happening."
Professor Kondapalli also says there have been similar clashes that have not been reported in the last year.
"In general, the Chinese come in large numbers and have been coming into this area for long. So it is not the only incident that has happened in the recent past.
"China has been sending a signal that they want a piece of this land, so they have put up all these rocks as a kind of marker for the line of actual control in these areas."
What's Australia's role in these clashes?
The Australian Government, along with the US, is calling for calm along the border.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware that Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control on 9 December, resulting in injuries," a spokeswoman told the ABC.
"Australia continues to urge restraint along the Line of Actual Control and encourage de-escalation efforts. We oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo."
The ABC understands Australia is pushing for principles — agreed by both India and China — which have stopped escalation in the past to continue.
Australia and India's relationship has been strengthening as both countries try to reduce their dependence on China, along with the Quad a partnership with the US and Japan.
They have been increasing their military ties through ongoing exercises, the latest was an army exercise in Rajasthan in the desert near the India Pakistan border this month.
"At a time when there are issues like this on December 9, this would suggest to a more bonhomie between Australia and India," Professor Kondapalli says.
Tibet's Prime Minister-in-exile says if the situation does escalate, Australia should step in.
"Right now, it's not necessary to involve the Australian Army directly in the border, India is very much in a capable position to handle this skirmishes," he says.
"But if it ends up in a bigger war, then I'm sure the quad will also have its role, despite it not being called a strategic cooperation."
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