"Known colloquially as the "Chicken's Neck," the Siliguri Corridor is a narrow 22-kilometer strip linking mainland India to its seven northeastern states. Sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China, it remains one of India's most sensitive geopolitical chokepoints. According to media reports this week, India's military has reinforced its eastern frontier by establishing three fully operational garrisons at strategic points around the Siliguri Corridor near the India-Bangladesh border."
"The increased Indian military presence near Bangladesh comes as ties between the South Asian neighbors have deteriorated after the ouster of Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. During her 15-year rule, Hasina ensured relatively stable ties between Bangladesh and India. The interim government in Dhaka, established after Hasina fled to India, is no longer as friendly towards New Delhi."
"Harsh V. Pant, head of the Strategic Studies Programme at the New Delhi think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said that the Siliguri Corridor is a "strategic vulnerability that India must safeguard." This comes "amid rising anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh and indications that the Yunus government is not favorably inclined toward New Delhi," he told DW, referring to Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is heading the interim administration in Bangladesh."
The Siliguri Corridor is a narrow 22-kilometer strip connecting mainland India to seven northeastern states, bordered by Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. India has established three fully operational garrisons near the India-Bangladesh border and visibly mobilized troops and reinforced deployments around the corridor. The Indian air force held a major air show in Assam on November 9 and initiated seven days of large-scale exercises across northeast India through November 20. Bilateral ties with Bangladesh deteriorated after the August 2024 ouster of Sheikh Hasina and the formation of an interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus. These moves coincide with a visit by Pakistan's navy.
Read at www.dw.com
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