Bangladesh’s leader Muhammad Yunus saying that India’s northeastern states are “landlocked” and calling his country the “only guardian” for the Indian Ocean in this region is “offensive and strongly condemnable”, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday.

Sarma also called for measures for “effectively bypassing the Chicken’s Neck”.

The “Chicken’s Neck”, or the Siliguri Corridor, is a narrow, strategically important stretch of land in West Bengal that connects the North East to the rest of India. The region is bordered by Nepal to the west, Bhutan to the north-east and Bangladesh to the south. China possibly threatening this land bridge induces a sense of vulnerability in India.

“The eastern part of India, known as the seven sisters, is landlocked,” Chief Adviser Yunus had told Chinese officials during his four-day visit to China that concluded on Saturday. “They have no access to the ocean. We are the only guardians of the ocean in this region. This opens up huge possibilities.”

He added: “So this could be an extension of the Chinese economy. Build things, produce things, market things, bring things to China, bring it out to the whole rest of the world.”

Yunus, the head of the Bangladeshi interim government, said that one can go “anywhere from Bangladesh as the ocean is in our backyard”.

On Tuesday, Sarma said in a social media post that Yunus’ remark “underscores the persistent vulnerability narrative associated with India’s strategic ‘Chicken’s Neck’ corridor”.

“Historically, even internal elements within India have dangerously suggested severing this critical passageway to isolate the Northeast from the mainland physically,” Sarma said.

Sarma added that it is “imperative to develop more robust railway and road networks both underneath and around” the Siliguri Corridor.

“Additionally, exploring alternative road routes connecting the northeast to mainland India, effectively bypassing the Chicken’s Neck, should be prioritised,” said the Assam chief minister. “Though this may pose significant engineering challenges, it is achievable with determination and innovation.”

Calling Yunus’ statement “provocative”, Sarma said the remark should not be taken lightly, as “they reflect deeper strategic considerations and longstanding agendas”.

China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region has for long been a cause of concern for New Delhi.

Yunus’ remarks also assume significance amid strained diplomatic ties since the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh was ousted in August.

Hasina resigned as the prime minister and fled to India on August 5 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years and is considered a close ally of New Delhi.

Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government three days later.

On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a letter to Yunus, said that New Delhi was committed to advancing its partnership with Dhaka based on “sensitivity to each other’s interests”.

Modi had sent the letter to Yunus on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day, which marks the country’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971.

This came amid reports that Dhaka has proposed a meeting between Yunus and Modi on the sidelines of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, which will be held from April 2 to April 4. This would be their first meeting since Yunus took office.

The BIMSTEC is a regional multilateral organisation established in 1997 comprising India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka.