Kamal Davar | Siliguri Corridor Remains India’s Highly Vulnerable Strategic Artery

It is indeed a truism that geography plays more than a significant role in a nation’s security and well-being. In the last three years or so, with the world witnessing many unexpected geopolitical disruptions and kinetic conflicts, wars and warlike situations can emerge anywhere without much warning or any justification. One major geo-strategic point of vulnerability for India is its famed Siliguri Corridor, also known as “Chicken’s Neck”.

The Siliguri Corridor is a portion of land in India’s state of West Bengal around the city of Siliguri. It is around 170 km long and 60 km in width, with its narrowest section being just 20-22 km. Overall, it is 12,200 sq km in its area. Its strategic significance lies in the fact that this narrow corridor joins the rest of India with its eight states in the Northeast. The countries of Nepal and Bangladesh are on each side of the Siliguri Corridor, with the former lying to its west, Bangladesh to its east and south and the kingdom of Bhutan lying at the northern end of the corridor. Importantly, it is the only land link between our Northeast region and the rest of the country.

The significance of the Siliguri Corridor is multi-faceted, embracing military, economic, social, external and internal security challenges. It is the considered opinion of many strategic analysts that New Delhi has disregarded the overall importance of this region since Independence and it is only lately, especially after the 2017 Doklam standoff with China, that more resources to improve its connectivity and develop some essential infrastructure in the corridor have been allocated.

The military significance of the Chicken’s Neck’s area emerges due to its proximity with our international borders with China, Nepal and Bangladesh. Moreover, its narrowness makes it susceptible to blockages from many directions, which could potentially sever the direct link of mainland India from the states of the Northeast, impacting the nation both economically and militarily. That its critical strategic impact has multiplied manifold is attributable to the change of government last year in Bangladesh, where fundamentalist forces appear to be on the rise with the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was friendly towards India, and the assumption of control by a caretaker administration headed by Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, who is hostile towards this country.

Militarily, with India’s northern and eastern borders getting restive, the Siliguri Corridor’s strategic significance and its vulnerability becomes paramount. It is the crucial link for defence, mobility and logistics support of the Indian Army’s deployment in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, apart from reinforcement of the security forces anywhere in the Northeast. With China trying to expand its footprint in Nepal, around Bhutan, Myanmar and lately in restive Bangladesh, the criticality of Chicken’s Neck gets multiplied. This region has come into sharp geopolitical focus with Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus’ irresponsible remark recently that India’s northeastern states are “landlocked” and described Bangladesh as the “guardian of ocean access” for them. This provocative statement drew large-scale condemnation in India and cannot be ignored.

Apart from external challenges steered by anti-India nations, manifold internal challenges in this region also reinforce the strategic significance of the Siliguri Corridor. With over 400 tribes in the Northeast, a few insurgent outfits still active and supported by China and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), credible internal security challenges persist in this region. With the rise of extremist groups in Bangladesh, and settling of Muslims and Rohingyas along the India-Nepal border, the security threat to the Siliguri Corridor has risen manifold. In the last couple of years, a very large number of mosques and madrasas have come up close to and even within the Siliguri Corridor. It is quite obvious that the ISI will have activated its existing “sleeper cells” to create mischief within or near the corridor.

India’s intelligence agencies will have to keep a strict watch on ISI activities both from Bangladesh and Nepal. The role of China after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina from Dhaka must also be factored in seriously by Indian defence planners. The threat from China, as also observed during the 2017 Doklam stand-off, remains an indelible reminder of its future devious intentions. China has been expanding its military infrastructure near the India-Bhutan-China tri junction, which poses a threat to the Siliguri Corridor. But, especially after the Doklam standoff, India too has vastly improved its security preparedness. According to reliable and well-placed media reports, India has deployed adequate state-of-the-art weapons systems, including S-400 air defence units, tanks, troops and paramilitary forces to make the Siliguri Corridor an impregnable defence line. India’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Anil Chauhan, recently visited North Bengal to review Inda’s operational preparedness and expressed full confidence in its capability to thwart any mischief emanating from China or the China-Bangladesh combine.

It is a long-awaited step that now the government is speedily developing alternative connectivity routes to reduce dependency on the Siliguri Corridor. The Bogibeel Bridge in Assam, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Project through Myanmar and the Agartala-Akhaura rail link will be of immense benefit to India in this region. Underground connectivity links through the Siliguri Corridor are also being planned.

At the political and diplomatic levels, India must make it clear to Bangladesh, and even Nepal, that reciprocity is the hallmark of neighbourly diplomacy. We fully respect their sovereignty and do not covet an inch of their territory. However, if they are adamant about falling into China’s well-known “debt trap”, that is their choice, but this country will not tolerate any anti-India activities from their side.

The next few months will be a real test of Indian diplomacy and its determination to preserve national interests. Let us rise to the occasion.

The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was the first head of India’s Defence Intelligence Agency, and is a strategic analyst