Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday strongly criticised remarks made by Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government, who claimed that Bangladesh is the “only guardian” of the Indian Ocean for the region due to the landlocked nature of India’s northeastern states.
Calling the statement “offensive and strongly condemnable,” Sarma dismissed the claim in a post on X.
Yunus made the remarks during a four-day visit to China, where he invited Beijing to expand its economic presence in the region.
He described India’s northeastern states as “landlocked” and suggested that Bangladesh could serve as their key access point to the ocean.
He further encouraged China to establish an economic base in Bangladesh, positioning it as an extension of the Chinese economy.
Reacting to this, Sarma highlighted the strategic concerns surrounding India’s ‘Chicken’s Neck’ corridor, warning against narratives that portray the Northeast as vulnerable.
Stressing the need for better infrastructure, he called for enhanced railway and road networks to strengthen connectivity between the Northeast and mainland India.
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Meanwhile, the Congress party also condemned Yunus’s remarks, with spokesperson Pawan Khera calling them “very dangerous” for the security of the Northeast.
Khera accused the government of neglecting the region’s security, particularly in Manipur, and warned that Bangladesh’s outreach to China posed a serious geopolitical challenge.
“Our foreign policy is in such a pathetic state that even Bangladesh, a country whose creation India played a key role in, is now working against us,” Khera said in a post on X.
