'We can attack Bangladesh's two chicken’s necks', says Assam CM. What are they?

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a fiery leader from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the chief minister of Assam state, recently reminded Bangladesh of its geographic vulnerabilities amid rising strategic tensions between Dhaka and New Delhi.

Sarma warned Dhaka that if it attempted to capitalise upon India’s Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken’s Neck, New Delhi could also retaliate by targeting “Bangladesh’s own two chicken’s necks”.

Notably, Siliguri Corridor is a narrow 22-km-wide land bridge that connects mainland India to the northeastern states. Over the past months, Bangladesh’s unelected interim government of Muhammad Yunus has fuelled rhetoric aimed at exploiting India’s geographic vulnerability.

For instance, during a visit to China, India’s main rival, Yunus falsely claimed that India’s Northeast was “landlocked” and its access was completely controlled by Dhaka. This statement caused outrage in New Delhi, which saw it as a grave provocation and a threat.

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Sarma’s warning

Now, BJP’s Sarma has warned Bangladesh that if India has one chicken’s neck, Bangladesh has two.

“We have one Chicken’s Neck. But Bangladesh has two Chicken Necks. If Bangladesh attacks our Chicken’s Neck, we will attack both the Chicken Necks of Bangladesh. The one in Meghalaya connecting Chittagong port in Bangladesh is even thinner than India’s Chicken’s Neck and is located just a stone’s throw away,” Sarma said during a press briefing.

His statement came after reports emerged that China is aiding Bangladesh in reviving a World War II-era airbase in Lalmonirhat — just 100 km from the Siliguri Corridor.

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Several experts in India have raised alarm over the development, with noted geostrategist and author Brahma Chellaney saying that it could help enhance Beijing’s ability to monitor Indian military installations in the sensitive region.

“An active Lalmonirhat airbase would greatly enhance China’s ability to conduct aerial surveillance and reconnaissance on Indian military installations, troop movements and critical infrastructure, including in India’s strategically vital Siliguri Corridor (Chicken’s Neck),” he said.

Bangladesh’s two chicken necks

Himanta Biswa Sarma highlighted two strategically and economically significant yet vulnerable land corridors in Bangladesh:

The Chittagong Corridor

This corridor links Bangladesh’s mainland to Chittagong, its primary port city handling over 90 per cent of the country’s external trade.

Spanning approximately 30 km from Sabroom in south Tripura to Mirsharai Upazila in Bangladesh, blocking this corridor could isolate Chittagong from the rest of Bangladesh.

Yusuf Unjhawala, an adjunct scholar, noted, “The shortest distance between the “landlocked” Indian state of Tripura and the sea is 30km. Of course cuts across Bangladesh. It’s also narrowest distance from the larger mass of Bangladesh and its eastern division of Chittagong.”

The shortest distance between the “landlocked”Indian state of Tripura and the sea is 30km. Of course cuts across Bangladesh. It’s also narrowest distance from the larger mass of Bangladesh and its eastern division of Chittagong.

Nobody wants mess. But then, you don’t issue… https://t.co/oqZVgwdzMv pic.twitter.com/uGcmMuGs3T

— Yusuf Unjhawala 🇮🇳 (@YusufDFI) April 1, 2025

 The Rangpur Corridor

Located between Meghalaya’s South West Garo Hills and South Dinajpur in West Bengal, with Bangladesh’s Rangpur division in between, this corridor stretches about 90 km. It forms another critical yet narrow connection between Bangladesh’s administrative regions. “Their ‘Chicken’s Neck’ near Meghalaya to Chittagong Port is much smaller than ours and can be choked by throwing even a ring,” Sarma said.