Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday strongly condemned recent remarks by a Bangladeshi political leader suggesting the separation of India’s northeastern states, calling such statements “irresponsible and dangerous” and warning that India would not remain silent.
Sarma was responding to comments made by Hasnat Abdullah, a senior leader of Bangladesh’s newly formed National Citizen Party, who reportedly said Dhaka should seek to “isolate” India’s Northeast and support separatist elements if New Delhi attempted to destabilise Bangladesh.
Speaking on the sidelines of a programme in Lumding, the Assam chief minister said that similar remarks had been repeatedly coming from across the border over the past year, with some voices in Bangladesh suggesting that the northeastern states should be detached from India and merged with the neighbouring country.
“India is a very big country, a nuclear power and the world’s fourth-largest economy. How can Bangladesh even think along these lines?” Sarma said, adding that not only was such thinking wrong, but it also reflected a troubling mindset that should not be encouraged.
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He said India should take a firm stand against such narratives and cautioned against extending support or assistance to those who continue to make provocative statements.
“If this kind of behaviour continues, India will not remain silent,” he said.
Abdullah had earlier claimed that the Northeast was geographically vulnerable because of its dependence on the narrow Siliguri Corridor, often referred to as the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, for connectivity with the rest of the country.
Sarma’s remarks come amid heightened sensitivity over regional security and cross-border rhetoric involving India’s northeastern region, which shares long international borders with Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries.
