Media: American intelligence helped India prevail in a border dispute.

Information-sharing by Washington reportedly helped India repel a Chinese incursion in disputed territory of the high Himalayas late last year. Unprecedented intelligence-sharing with the US military, including satellite imagery, alerted India to Chinese positions and force strength in advance of an incursion by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Indian troops were ready for the subsequent clash in the Arunachal Pradesh region on December 9, wielding spiked clubs and Tasers. Casualties were limited to about a dozen injuries, and PLA troops retreated back into Chinese territory. The assistance reflected a new era of cooperation between the two powers in recognition of their shared ambitions to push back on Chinese expansionism.

Former Pentagon official Vikram Singh told the outlet that the PLA is in a "probing-and-testing phase" to see how the Indians can respond and see what the Indians can detect. Chinese officials declined to comment on the reported clash with Indian troops, but tensions in the border region have been high since a 2020 battle that resulted in 20 deaths on the Indian side and four on the Chinese side.