Srinagar: More than five years after the Galwan Valley clash exposed the brutal realities of high-altitude soldiering, India is attempting something that could permanently alter its Himalayan defence posture — bringing round-the-clock grid electricity to military posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Ladakh’s frontier is a world where temperatures dive to –40°C, oxygen thins by half, and winds scream across 16,000-foot ridges. Forward posts at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), Chumar, Demchok and Pangong Tso remain cut off for months, surviving on diesel generators that freeze at night and solar panels that falter under snow.

In June 2020, these mountains became the site of the Galwan Valley clash, the first deadly encounter on the India-China border in 45 years, which cl

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