“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” In the present day, this applies also to Bangladesh ‘Chief Advisor’ Muhammed Yunus (though US President Donald Trump is the standard-bearer in this regard). Regardless of Pakistan’s recent experience, Yunus is continuing to aggravate India by expounding his ‘strategic vision’ for the North-East, Bhutan and Nepal. Behind this expansionist approach is the old concept of considering the Siliguri Corridor as the Chicken’s Neck which, if snapped, would cut off the North-East from mainland India.
This idea may have had merit some decades ago but is certainly not the case anymore. First, because it is much better defended, particularly keeping the Chinese in mind. Bangladesh would undergo a very unpleasant experience should it even take a step towards actualising this concept. Secondly, India’s air connectivity with this region is now much expanded and would more than suffice to ensure supply of men and material should, for some reason, the corridor become dysfunctional. Thirdly, the present North-East is no longer the insurgency ridden region of the past – its people are much more integrated and take pride in their Indian identity. Also, there is no way Nepal and Bhutan are going to play Yunus’s game – they know the dangers that the present regime in Bangladesh represents.
Yunus is also falling into the kind of trap that Pakistan and many African nations are paying a heavy price for – trying to rope in China. The stated intention to establish a Chinese airport near the Indian border will certainly not intimidate India but, instead, trigger some radical pre-emptive measures. These facts are obvious and should not need to be spelled out. The concern is why the eighty-four old Yunus, in the late evening of his life, wishes to jeopardise his nation by picking an unnecessary fight. He cannot believe that this would pressurise India into returning former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or giving up support to the idea of a secular and progressive Bangladesh.
Very probably, all this drama is being staged for the domestic audience, which is increasingly being dominated by Islamic Fundamentalists and former supporters of Pakistan. He will have to be careful, however, not to go overboard with his appeasement of these radical forces, as things may go out of hand. There are many examples of such mistakes made by ambitious leaders in world history. It is expected that, in the face of all these provocations, India will be considering ways to prevent a spillover across its borders of such a self-destructive policy.
