In a provocative statement that has stirred alarm in New Delhi, retired Bangladeshi Major General ALM Fazlur Rahman, an aide considered close to Bangladesh’s interim chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, warned that Bangladesh could invade and occupy India’s seven northeastern states if India retaliates militarily against Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahman, who formerly headed Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh), called for a joint military arrangement with China to realize this “wild idea,” asserting on Facebook that “If India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh will have to occupy the seven states of northeast India.” He emphasized the necessity to initiate discussions with China to coordinate such a move, highlighting growing strategic cooperation between Dhaka and Beijing.
This incendiary claim comes at a time when India and Bangladesh are attempting to mend bilateral ties, which have been strained since the political upheaval in Dhaka last year and India’s concerns over targeted violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government swiftly distanced itself from Rahman’s remarks, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that these comments do not represent official policy and are not endorsed by the government.
The backdrop to this tension is Bangladesh’s interim chief advisor Muhammad Yunus’s recent visit to China, where he described India’s northeastern “seven sisters” states as landlocked and positioned Bangladesh as the “only guardian of the ocean” for the region. Yunus suggested this geographic reality could be leveraged to extend China’s economic influence, a notion that has alarmed Indian political leaders. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condemned Yunus’s comments as “offensive and strongly condemnable,” warning that such rhetoric threatens India’s strategic security, particularly the vulnerable Siliguri Corridor or “Chicken’s Neck” connecting the Northeast to the rest of India.
Congress leader Pawan Khera also criticized the Bangladesh-China nexus, accusing the Modi government of failing to protect the Northeast from Chinese encroachment facilitated through Bangladesh. He highlighted concerns over Chinese settlements in Arunachal Pradesh and warned that Bangladesh’s alignment with China poses a serious security threat to India’s northeastern frontier.
These developments exacerbate the already volatile situation following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians and reignited India-Pakistan hostilities. India has accused Pakistan of sponsoring the attack, leading to heightened military alertness and diplomatic fallout. The suggestion of Bangladesh’s military involvement alongside China in the event of Indian action against Pakistan adds a dangerous new dimension to regional security dynamics.
In sum, the combination of Rahman’s aggressive rhetoric, Yunus’s pro-China stance, and ongoing India-Pakistan tensions threatens to destabilize South Asia’s fragile peace. India faces a complex security challenge, having to guard against threats not only from Pakistan but also from a Bangladesh-China axis eyeing its northeastern states.