(MENAFN) India has inaugurated a new military aviation facility in Ladakh, positioned mere miles from its contested frontier with China, multiple media outlets confirm.

The Mudh-Nyoma air force station stands just 14 miles (23 kilometers) from the Chinese border, according to media.

Perched at an altitude of 13,700 feet in the Himalayan terrain, the installation was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) with an estimated price tag of $25 million, the report indicates. New Delhi launched the development project in 2023.

The facility boasts a 1.7-mile runway alongside newly erected hangars, an air traffic control tower, crash response bay, and housing infrastructure for personnel. Military analysts note the base possesses operational capacity for both heavy transport planes and frontline fighter aircraft.

Relations between New Delhi and Beijing—severely damaged after a deadly 2020 border confrontation that resulted in multiple fatalities—have shown signs of gradual improvement over the past year.

Last October, both nations finalized a border patrol agreement following discussions between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia.

India resumed processing tourist visas for Chinese nationals in July 2025, ending a five-year suspension of the program.

One month afterward, Modi traveled to China for the first time since 2018, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.

By October, India and China also restored direct commercial aviation routes, which had been grounded since the initial COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

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