Just a few days ago, a statement came from Bangladesh that as soon as India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh will attack India along with China.
Apart from this, Bangladesh also made a statement about India’s Chicken’s Neck, in response to which our Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said that India has one Chicken’s Neck but Bangladesh has two Chicken’s Neck.
If in the future Bangladesh tries to take any action on India’s chicken’s Neck, then we will include both the Chicken’s Neck of Bangladesh in India.
In today’s article, we will learn about India’s Chicken Neck and its strategic importance.
What is chicken’s Neck?
Chicken’s Neck is a 60 km long and 22 km wide corridor that connects India to the North Eastern states. Chicken’s Neck is situated between Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and China. Chumbi Valley of Tibet is 130 km away from Chicken’s Neck.
This 60 km long corridor is also known as Siliguri Corridor which is the only route connecting the northeastern states to India. If it is blocked, then India’s connectivity with the eastern states will be completely closed.
Around Chicken’s Neck are parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and North Bengal on which China has always been claiming its rights.
Why Chicken’s Neck is so important for India?
The Siliguri Corridor is very important for India because it not only connects the Northeast states to India but also connects the Northeast states to the South East countries. However, China or Bangladesh cannot directly attack the Chicken’s Neck because India has deployed a large amount of military here.
It has deployed everything from missiles and defense systems to fighter planes. Even in the 1962 India-China war, China did not directly attack Chicken’s Neck.
There is a WW2 airport named Lalmonirhat in Bangladesh, about 135 km from the Siliguri Corridor. China is joining hands with Bangladesh to develop this airport.
It is also said that if China develops this airport and establishes its presence there, then it may pose a threat to the Siliguri Corridor.
It is very important for India to have a strong hold on the Siliguri Corridor to maintain the connectivity of the North East states of India, which is also considered a landlocked region of India.
What actions did India take to save the Siliguri corridor?
India has deployed heavy military force here to protect the Siliguri Corridor. Along with this, Rafale fighter jets as well as air missile defense system Akash have also been deployed at Hasimara Air Base.
India also conducts military exercises here from time to time. India has recently conducted a military exercise named Teesta Prahar with T90 tanks.
Under the Act East Policy, India along with Myanmar had prepared a Kaladan Multi Modal Project. Through this project, India will connect Kolkata Port to Sittwe Port of Myanmar.
Kolkata Port will be connected to the Sittwe port of Myanmar by sea route which will be about 540 km long.
A 158-km long international waterway will also be built on the Kaladan River from Sittwe Port to Paletwa in Myanmar, which will connect Sittwe port to Paletwa.
After this, a roadway of about 110 km will be built from Paletwa, which will directly connect Paletwa to Mizoram of India.
If we look at it here, India has completely bypassed Siliguri and connected India to the North East states very easily under the Kaladan Multimodal Project.
How many Chicken’s Neck does Bangladesh have?
Just like India has one Chicken’s Neck, Bangladesh also has two Chicken’s Neck, the first one is The Chittagong Corridor and the second one is The Rangpur Corridor.
- The Chittagong Corridor:- Located in South East Bangladesh, this corridor is spread over approximately 30 kilometers which connects the rest of Bangladesh to Chittagong Port.
About 90% of Bangladesh’s trade is done through Chittagong port and Chittagong city is also considered the largest city of Bangladesh.
This is a small stretch of about 30 km from India’s landlocked state Tripura to the sea. If it is blocked, Bangladesh will lose connectivity with Chittagong port.
- The Rangpur Corridor:- This corridor is an 80-km route between West Bengal and Meghalaya which connects the Ranga Division of Bangladesh to its administrative area.
Conclusion
According to some defense experts, Chicken’s Neck is a strategic point of India. But this is not a serious issue for India because India has made a good arrangement here that if any country wants to attack it, then India is ready to give a befitting reply.
If we talk about China, then China will never directly attack Chicken’s Neck because if it does so, then China’s trade in Indian Ocean region will be completely blocked by the Indian Navy, so China will never make such a mistake.