It was minus 15 degrees Celsius as the long night was ending, when we set out from the ancient Silk Road logistics and market hub of Leh, in India’s northern Ladakh province. Ahead was a nine-hour return journey to the edge of military conflict between India and China.

The Ladakh/Tibet area is one of the most heavily militarised regions along the entire India-China border. The presence of the respective armies has been ramped up considerably since June 2020, when a melee occurred in the Gwadar Valley near Lake Pangong, resulting in some 20 Indian deaths and four Chinese, according to each side’s official statements. Global attention has since been directed to this most remote, high-altitude region as where a Sino-Indian war would start.