Chicken’s Neck: India’s strategic reinforcement along eastern frontier

Attention has once again turned to the “Chicken’s Neck’ ~ the narrow Siliguri Corridor that connects India’s northeast to the mainland ~ with the construction of three new military garrisons and an air power demonstration by the Indian Air Force in Guwahati.

- PARWINDER SANDHU

Given the evolving dynamics between China and India, particularly along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India’s increased military presence along the eastern frontier is being viewed as a strategic response to China's construction of missile silos and fortified villages near the border.

The Siliguri Corridor, which runs through West Bengal and borders Bangladesh, Nepal, China’s Chumbi Valley in Tibet, and the Kingdom of Bhutan, is just 17 kilometres wide at its narrowest point.