Chinese officials visit Lalmonirhat Airbase in Bangladesh near Chicken’s Neck corridor, Yunus govt has sought China’s help to develop it into an airport

Chinese officials recently visited the Lalmonirhat Airbase in Bangladesh near Indo-Bangla border, which the Bangladesh government is developing as a civilian airport. As per a report by The Assam Tribune, by Indian intelligence agencies have received inputs about the visit of the Chinese officials to the Bangladeshi Air Force base.

Lalmonirhat Airbase located in Rangpur Division is just 20 km away from the Siliguri corridor or the ‘Chickens neck’ corridor in India. It was built as a military base in 1931 by the British government and was used by allied forces during the World War II as a forward airbase for its operations on the eastern front.

After Independence and partition, the base was used by the Bangladesh Air Force. In 2019, a plot in the base was given to Bangladesh Aerospace and Aviation University to build its permanent campus.

However, recently the interim government of Bangladesh has sought to develop it as civilian airport. As per reports, Chief Advisor Md Yunus has asked China to develop the airport. He brought the matter during his China visit last month, when he made the controversial remarks saying that Bangladesh is the only guardian of the ocean for the entire region including the 7 north-eastern states of India.

Reportedly, work on the airport is likely to start in October this year, and China will engage a Pakistani company as the sub-contractor for the work.

Indian agencies are watching whether the air base would be used for civilian purposes, training or to deploy military aircraft. “We need to see if Bangladesh will allow other countries like China and Pakistan to use it. Bangladesh has the right to develop air fields for their security reasons, but that should not be used against India,” defence officials said, as per the Assam Tribune report.

Notably, India has strong military presence in its eastern and northeastern regions, including the Siliguri corridor. Indian Army’s Trishakti Corps, the XXXIII Corps, is headquartered near Siliguri. The Hasimara air base in Alipurduar district, West Bengal, houses the second squadron of Dassault Rafale fighter jets.

While Lalmonirhat Airbase is within the range of India’s artillery guns, Bangladesh and its allies China and Pakistan can potentially use it to keep an eye on movement of Indian forces, given its close proximity to the border.

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