External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Thursday criticised Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, for labelling India’s northeastern states ‘landlocked’ and said
New Delhi believes that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry-picking.
In an official statement, Jaishankar also said India is aware of its responsibility with regard to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
"We, after all, have the longest coastline in the Bay of Bengal, of almost 6,500 km. India shares borders not only with the five BIMSTEC members, and connects most of them, but also provides much of the interface between the Indian sub-continent and ASEAN. Our northeastern region in particular is emerging as a connectivity hub for the BIMSTEC, with a myriad network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines," the EAM said.
Jaishankar’s remarks came days after Muhammad Yunus, during his recent four-day visit to China, described Northeast as ‘landlocked’ with "no way to reach out to the ocean," positioning Bangladesh as the region’s primary maritime gateway. Yunus also requested Beijing to expand its economic influence in Bangladesh, calling the country the "only guardian of the ocean" in the region.
"We are conscious that our cooperation and facilitation are an essential prerequisite for the smooth flow of goods, services and people in this larger geography. Keeping this geo-strategic factor in mind, we have devoted increasing energies and attention to the strengthening of BIMSTEC in the last decade. We also believe that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry-picking," Jaishankar said.
Yunus’s remarks ignited a storm, particularly in the northeast, drawing sharp condemnation. Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma denounced the statements as "offensive and unacceptable".
Sarma also cautioned that Yunus’s remarks reignited debates over the strategic "Chicken’s Neck" corridor, the narrow land strip in West Bengal linking the Northeast to the rest of India.
"Historically, internal elements within India have dangerously suggested severing this critical passageway. Therefore, it is imperative to develop more robust railway and road networks both underneath and around the Chicken’s Neck corridor," the CM said.
