Muhammad Yunus: 'Northeast is an integral part of India', former ambassador reprimands Muhammad Yunus for his absurd statement

Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri has slammed Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. She strongly condemned Yunus' statement in which he made the absurd claim that Bangladesh is the sole custodian of the Indian Ocean as the seven Indian states in the Northeast are landlocked. Sikri termed Yunus' outburst as shocking and asserted that the Northeast is an integral part of India.

Following Yunus' comments during his four-day visit to China, the former Indian envoy asserted that the Nobel laureate has no right to make such a statement. Speaking to ANI, Sikri said, "Muhammad Yunus' statement is very shocking. He has no right to make such a statement. He knows that the Northeast is an integral part of India and we have had very close discussions with the Bangladesh government about access to the Bay of Bengal from the Northeast India side and there are formal agreements on this." 'Can't expect riverfront rights'

Sikri warned Bangladesh that if it is not interested in giving connectivity rights to Northeast India, it cannot expect riverfront rights in return. He said, 'We must condemn this statement. I can tell Bangladesh one thing very clearly that if they are not interested in giving connectivity rights to Northeast India, they cannot expect any rights as riverbank. So they should know this and they should not have any illusions about this.

Defense expert Praful Bakshi also expressed displeasure.

Apart from this, defense expert Praful Bakshi also expressed displeasure over Yunus' statement. He said that India created Bangladesh and did not take any map related advantage while doing so. Bakshi expressed concern that Bangladesh, China and Pakistan are discussing ways to put pressure on India by taking advantage of the Siliguri Corridor, an important connectivity route for the northeastern states. He warned that India could take similar action against Bangladesh as well, which would cut off their sea access.

'We can choke them by cutting off the sea'

He said, 'We created Bangladesh. We did not take any advantage while creating Bangladesh. Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan have recently been talking about Chicken Neck (Siliguri Corridor), strangling India, and taking advantage. Now Bangladesh is saying that China should help and enter the seven Indian states dependent on the Siliguri Corridor. They do not realize that we can do the same in the opposite direction to Bangladesh. We can choke them by cutting off the sea.'