Neighbourhood 'Frisk' Policy

India needs to relook at Bangladesh as it partners with China to rebuild World War II air bases

- Dr Subrata Saha

AWAY from the cacophony of India's Western Front, the dragon is silently but surely dancing its way deeper around India's East. About 10 days ago, media reports said that Chinese officials were inspecting the Lalmonirhat airbase in Rangpur, Bangladesh, which the government is planning to rebuild. Even if it is ostensibly for commercial purposes, its dual use for military purposes cannot be ruled out. Such an airbase located barely 20 km south of the international border of the Siliguri Corridor causes concerns in India, more so when seen in the larger context of the unfolding geopolitics.

The Siliguri Corridor is an East-West National corridor connecting India's Northeastern states; it is approximately 160-170 km in length, and approximately 65-75 km in width.

The corridor gets constricted to about 20 by 22 km on the western end, where the Nepal border comes in proximity to the Bangladesh border. This constricted part is referred to as the chicken's neck-approximately 130 km away from Lalmonirhat.

The Siliguri Corridor is significant because two national highways and two broad-gauge railway lines run through it, with multiple road and railway bridges, and the millions of tonnes of freight that move in and out of the Northeast, and connectivity to Bhutan. Given its strategic importance, there are substantial military assets deployed and significant movements happen both east and westwards all the time.

The Siliguri Corridor and the high mountains that help in defending it have been of great strategic interest to China.

In 1967, a series of aggressive actions by China in the Nathu La area in Sikkim led to armed clashes, in which the Indian Army responded very strongly. The Chinese actions at Nathu La were part of its strategy to assert territorial claims and influence in the region, which were effectively beaten back.

In 2017, there was a 72-day long border stand-off in Doklam.