A MORE MUSCULAR CHICKEN'S NECK

THE SILIGURI CORRIDOR, INDIA'S VULNERABLE LAND LINK TO ITS NORTHEAST, IS UNDER THREAT FROM A NEW BANGLADESHPAKISTAN-CHINA MILITARY-STRATEGIC AXIS. NOW, THREE NEW ARMY GARRISONS ARE READY TO MEET ANY HOSTILE ACTION

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

A shadow looms over the Siliguri Corridor in North Bengal, also called the 'Chicken's A Neck-India's 22-km-wide and 60-km-long land bridge linking the mainland to its eight Northeastern states-and the Indian military has risen to dispel it.

Sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, with the China border nearby, it hosts key security, logistics and trading facilities. This fragile strategic artery is a chokepoint whose disruption could sever the region from the rest of the country. Over the past 12 months, Beijing and Islamabad have dramatically expanded their militarystrategic footprint-including near the corridor-in Bangladesh following the August 2024 ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime, triggering a rethink within India's security establishment. The traditional Border Security Force (BSF)-heavy deployment was deemed insufficient for the emerging threat. The response has been swift and muscular: three new Indian Army garrisons around the corridor overlooking the Bangladesh frontier. The objective is to enhance surveillance and boost rapid response capabilities.

The most significant of the new installations is the Lachit Borphukan military station at Bamuni near Dhubri, Assam-the first permanent army base along Assam's border with Bangladesh.

Spread across 65 acres and operating under the Tezpur-based 4 Corps (Gajraj Corps), it is designed for rapid deployment, counter-infiltration and area domination. It hosts 1,500 personnel, including a para special forces detachment. Two additional forward garrisons in Kishanganj, Bihar, and Chopra, North Bengal, have been rapidly developed at the edge of the corridor.

Situated less than a kilometre from Tetulia in Bangladesh, the Chopra base occupies a tactical location. Both garrisons house around 1,000 troops and are under the 17 Mountain Strike Corps (Brahmastra Corps) based in Panagarh, Bengal.