Myanmar And Bangladesh In US’ China-Containment Strategy – Analysis

[Gonjo]

Any short distance (Less than 150km BD to China Border) however is a good answer i believe.

 

[illusion8]

Any short distance (Less than 150km BD to China Border) however is a good answer i believe.

Must be around that much, the Chicken neck is about 40 km wide, + add up Nepal territory.

 

[idune]

Any short distance (Less than 150km BD to China Border) however is a good answer i believe.

From tip of Dinajpur (Tetulia) to China via Sikkim is around 100 +/- km.

 

[aakash_2410]

Bangladesh is no US pawn and Insha-Allah never will be one. We are good friends, that is all. We have interest in joining ASEAN and reduce Indian influence in this region. If US can help us with that we should side with the US, if China can help us more for our above goals, then we should side with China. It is pure business onlee. No hard feelings.

Hahahaha What a funny post! ASEAN has different and completely opposite goals! India is always welcomed in ASEANs because, they wanna reduce China's influence in their region! looool Thank you for the entertainment!

 

[Gonjo]

Any BD people whenever u will visit Darjeeling, u will see the presence of Indian Armies beside the highways of Shilliguri, Kalimpong. The massive presence of them will catch in any civilians eye there. Shiliguri, Kalimpong is well inside Chickens neck area. And, their massive presence means India fears this short distance.

So, nothing should be underestimated.

 

[kalu_miah]

Siliguri Corridor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Siliguri Corridor (Bengali: শিলিগূড়ি করিডো&#2480 or Chicken's Neck (Bengali: চিকেন নে&#2453 is a narrow stretch of land that connects India's north-eastern states to the rest of India. This strip of land is only 21 to 40 km in width, with the countries of Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. The kingdom of Bhutan lies on the northern side of the corridor.
The city of Siliguri in the state of West Bengal is the major city in this area. The city is the central node that connects Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Darjeeling hills, north-east India and the rest of India.

History

See also: Partition of India
The Siliguri Corridor was created in 1947 after the partition of Bengal between India and Pakistan (former state of East Bengal, now independent Bangladesh).
[edit]Importance

This corridor is an important and sensitive one for India. The location of this corridor has created a political reality that is important for Bangladesh as well. Separation of India occurred as an outcome of the hostility between Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. From the very beginning, the relationship between these two new states was marked by hostilities and confrontations.
This separation created a hostile state adjacent to this part of India named “East Pakistan”, which created a disadvantaged situation for the northeastern part of India. The existence of East Pakistan created a kind of geographical barrier for the northeastern part of India commonly known as “Seven-Sisters”. The narrow Siliguri Corridor (which is at one point less than 14 miles wide) remained as the only physical connection between mainland India and the northeastern part.
This region was wedged between hostile East Pakistan to the south and west and hostile China to the north. It had no access to the sea closer than Calcutta, on the other side of the corridor.[1] Between Sikkim and Bhutan lies the Chumbi valley, a dagger-like slice of the Tibetan territory. A Chinese military advance of less than 80 miles would cut off Bhutan, part of West Bengal and all of North-East India, with almost 50 million people. This situation occurred during the war between India and China in 1962.[2]
Though the independence of Bangladesh has reduced the vulnerability to a great extent, using this corridor is still economically unprofitable for India since she have to pass almost 2000 km in order to get access from Mizoram to the Calcutta seaport. As a result, this region is very much undeveloped compared to the other parts of India. Consequently, various separation movements and armed groups are trying to liberate the area from Indian authority. This has created a major concern for India's security.

Current situation

Being a sensitive area amidst three countries, the strip is heavily patrolled by the Indian Army, the Assam Rifles, the Border Security Force and the West Bengal Police. In recent times, the area has become the focus of illegal crossings between Bangladeshi rebels and Nepali Maoist insurgents, both in search of refuge from their country. A flourishing narcotics and weapons traffic also takes place in this region.[3]
All land transportation between mainland India and its far north-eastern states must use this circuitous corridor, as there is no free trade agreement between Bangladesh and India. The route has a major broad gauge railway line in addition to the old metre gauge line which connects the north-eastern states with the rest of India. National Highway 31 connects Siliguri to Guwahati in Assam which is the most critical highway in the region, owing to the insurgents in the vicinity.[4]

Proposals

In 2002, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh studied a proposal to create a free trade zone in the area which would enable all four countries to connect directly with each other without restrictions.[5]

 

[Roybot]

My question to the Indian Posters: What is the minimum distance gap between China And Bangladesh border? Hint: Chicken Neck, a permanent headache for Indians.

I believe the short border distance is the opportunity for US to look for.

So you are saying that Bangladesh will host US Military who will use Silliguri Corridor to attack China Wow whatever happened to Bongo-Sino friendship!

 

[Roybot]

Siliguri Corridor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Siliguri Corridor (Bengali: শিলিগূড়ি করিডো&#2480 or Chicken's Neck (Bengali: চিকেন নে&#2453

Bangladesh should worry about its own Chicken neck. The shortest air distance between Bangladesh and China is about 100 KM. Land route, forget about it, too many valleys and mountains. Corridor width between Nepal-Bangladesh and Nepal-Bhutan wouldn't really matter in the times of hostilities. Cause these two countries will never go against India.

So if Bangladesh ever decides to attack India's Silliguri Corridor(epic ), not only the Silliguri based XXXIII corps will repel any such misadventure, Pangarh Based Indian Army Strike Corps assisted by Ranchi based 23rd Infantry division and Tezpur Based IV Corps of the Indian army will launch a counter attack on Bangladesh's very own chicken neck, which is a mere 82 KM wide between South Dinajpur(WB)-West Garo Hills(Meghalaya) and essentially a flat track. And if thats not enough we ll also launch some air strikes on Dhaka and Chittagong as punishment. This will not only teach Bangladesh a lesson but also increase the size of our Silliguri corridor

Ask Pakistan, they tried to choke the Chicken neck in Akhnoor, Jammu in 1965. Ended up saving their behind in Lahore.

Point is that leave all this military options to the big boys of the region. You guys have the perfect opportunity to develop your country without too much of a security threat from outside. Reap the benefit and let both China and US try and win you over. As long as this doesn't affect the position of India against China we will be more than happy for you guys.

 

[Maira La]

Hahahaha What a funny post! ASEAN has different and completely opposite goals! India is always welcomed in ASEANs because, they wanna reduce China's influence in their region! looool Thank you for the entertainment!

When he says "this region", I think he means Bangladesh. He does know quite a bit about maps & economic/political unions, but the way he plans the future is like children planning what sort of cool cars they're gonna buy or how awesome their mansions are gonna be when they grow up.

 

[kalu_miah]

Bangladesh will not try to take on militarily against India. But we will keep building alliances with other nations, so we can reach parity and balance, to protect our national assets and interests against any external threats.

The future they say is limited only by the limits of imagination.

 

[clmeta]

India fears Bangladesh???? You mean the country we gifted freedom???

Any BD people whenever u will visit Darjeeling, u will see the presence of Indian Armies beside the highways of Shilliguri, Kalimpong. The massive presence of them will catch in any civilians eye there. Shiliguri, Kalimpong is well inside Chickens neck area. And, their massive presence means India fears this short distance.

So, nothing should be underestimated.

 

[scholseys]

India fears Bangladesh???? You mean the country we gifted freedom???

you gifted nothing, you were self serving and serving us bangladeshis in that time was your best interest otherwise you'd have nukes facing from pakistan from 2 sides.

 

[PakistaniandProud]

Can someone tell me how many Burmese people live in Bangladesh? And how are their living conditions?

 

[scholseys]

Can someone tell me how many Burmese people live in Bangladesh? And how are their living conditions?

they starve in bangladesh and live in ghettos.

 

[idune]

First of all South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG) is very well known RAW arm for propaganda analysis and should be treated as such. Indians like before will take every opportunity to sabotage Bangladesh eastward connectivity and close relation.

Connectivity with Myanmar and then to ASEAN and China is part of Bangladesh “Look East” policy that was undertook during last BNP govt. India played its part to sabotage the initiative and indo-Awami think tanks played their part against it. In fact one such Indian influenced so called “think tank” Policy Research Institute (PRI) just brought to life to paddle connectivity agenda with india.

But this time things are bit different, given current geo political environment in South-East and East Asia, US has special interest in Myanmar and Bangladesh is sitting at the crossroad. This time, US and Bangladesh interests (without going into detail) are converging on connectivity with Myanmar, ASEAN and even China and on growth of trade in the region.




From the US ambassador statement its clear, US like to see Bangladesh get connected to China. US interest and strategy is not one dimensional as Indians are trying to propagate. There are US business and trade interest in it. Bangladesh is no way fall within US “China containment” template; india unfortunately does. But Indians are clearly trying to label Bangladesh is in anti China camp to stroke Chinese thinking and perhaps action against Bangladesh interest. But China is far smarter and has their eyes and ears and can see through their own interest on their own. China has different level of understanding with US and US-China strategic dialogue held recently bare marks on such evolving understanding.

Here is a sample of it:
Exclusive: U.S. lets China bypass Wall Street for Treasury orders | Reuters

India will try best to use its Awami stooges to keep Bangladesh from any eastward connectivity. Indians used ESCAP and Awami stooges (Kibria, Rahmatullah type) to change Asian highway route. Just couple days ago Policy Research Institute (PRI) came out of hibernation to paddle indian connectivity agenda; just in line with Indian propaganda and sabotage plan. Anisul Islam Mahmud and Rahmatullah and folks were in the PRI conference are well known Indian cohorts in Bangladesh.

Infrastructure dev must to raise regional trade

This time one can expect India will go even extreme like

• Try to label Bangladesh is in anti China camp.
• Try to promote animosity with Myanmar.
• Lobbying to change US Ambassador and policy in Washington.
• Stage terrorism inside Bangladesh and Myanmar.
• Stage arms and drug scandal.
• And what not ….

All these nefarious indian acts will be to pursue US, Myanmar and China to back off from Bangladesh connectivity. SAAG and Policy Research Institute (PRI) are just mouth piece of these Indian agenda. While Awami League regime will be following indian instructions, for our own interest we need to be aware of indian deception and lie.

On May 23rd, I have said how india will run propaganda and resort to other nefarious activities to stall Bangladesh deeper relation with Myanmar, China and SE Asia. It took only a week to see indian is walking in perdictable path and add more propaganda like 7th fleet story. More to come in near future......