NEW YORK - The Himalayan town of Tawang has become a tinderbox in relations between India and China as New Delhi build up its troops strength there, The New York Times reported on Friday. Citing political observers say, the newspaper said both countries have stepped up efforts to secure their rights over Tawang which is home to one of Tibetan Buddhisms most sacred monasteries. A huge Indian military buildup has bases appearing every half-mile in the countryside and watchtowers ringed by barbed wire going up, the paper said in a dispatch from Tawang, which perched above 10,000 feet in the icy reaches of the eastern Himalayas. Convoys of army trucks haul howitzers along rutted mountain roads. Soldiers drill in muddy fields. Military bases appear every half-mile in the countryside, with watchtowers rising behind concertina wire. 'The Chinese Army has a big deployment at the border, at Bumla, Madan Singh, a junior commissioned officer was quoted as saying. 'The growing belligerence has soured relations between the two Asian giants and has prompted one Indian military leader to declare that China has replaced Pakistan as Indias biggest threat,the correspondent wrote. Few expect China to try to annex Tawang by force but military skirmishes are a real danger, analysts have told The Times.