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Himanta Sarma's 'nuclear' warning after Bangladesh leader's 'northeast' remarks
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the people of Bangladesh have a “bad mindset” and that “we should not help them too much”.
ndiaAssam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Tuesday that in Bangladesh, discussions have been going on about “separating northeast” from India and making it a part of Bangladesh.
However, he said, that it would not be possible since India is the fourth largest economy in the world and is a nuclear nation.
“For the past year, there has been repeated discussion in Bangladesh about separating the northeast from India and making it a part of Bangladesh. But India is a very big country, a nuclear nation and the fourth largest economy of the world. How can Bangladesh even think about it?'” Assam CM said.
He added that the people of Bangladesh have a “bad mindset” and that “we should not help them too much”.
“We shouldn't help them too much and should teach them a lesson that we will not remain silent if they behave this way towards India,” he said while talking to media.
Sarma's remarks come after a senior leader of Bangladesh's newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), Hasnat Abdullah, said on Monday that Dhaka should “isolate” India's northeastern states if New Delhi tries to “destabilise” Bangladesh, reported news agency PTI. He also reportedly said that Bangladesh should extend support to separatist elements in India's northeast region.
While speaking about how to destabilise India's northeastern states, Abdullah had also reportedly claimed that those states were “geographically vulnerable” because of their dependence on the narrow Siliguri Corridor.
Also called the ‘chicken’s neck', Siliguri Corridor connects the northeast with with the Indian mainland.
Earlier this year, Himanta had issued a warning to Bangladesh against targeting India's ‘chicken's neck’ and said that those who 'habitually threaten' India on the ‘chicken neck corridor’ should note that Bangladesh has two such narrow strips of land, which are "far more vulnerable".
In a post on X, Sarma had said that Bangladesh has two of its own “chicken necks” and both are “far more vulnerable”.
“First is the 80 Km North Bangladesh Corridor- from Dakhin Dinajpur to South West Garo Hills. Any disruption here, can completely isolate the entire Rangpur division from rest of Bangladesh,” he had said.
“Second is the 28 km Chittagong Corridor, from South Tripura till the Bay of Bengal. This corridor, smaller than India’s chicken neck, is the only link between Bangladesh’s economic capital and political capital,” he added.
