NEW DELHI—In the far reaches of the Himalayas, drones sweep across the sky on a high-priority mission for India: scouring the vast, rugged terrain below for Chinese movement along the border of the two countries.
Until a few years ago, India relied largely on human patrols to watch the disputed boundary.
But that was a different, less-fraught era of relations between the neighbors.
A deadly 2020 confrontation between their security forces jolted New Delhi and cast a chill over ties, driving both sides to increase border deployments of troops, weapons and surveillance equipment.
Locations:
DELHI, India, New Delhi