Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that India would not stay silent on Bangladesh’s repeated threats of merging the Northeast with Bangladesh.

He called it a reflection of a bad mindset.

“Statements have been emanating from Bangladesh for the past year with calls to merge the Northeast with that country. But how will Bangladesh do it? It’s wrong to even imagine this,” Sarma told the media on Tuesday.

He mentioned that India is a large and sovereign nation with the world’s fourth-largest economy. “If such behaviour continues, we should teach them a lesson that we will not remain silent,” he further stated.

The remarks came a day after Hasnat Abdullah, a youth leader of Bangladesh’s newly formed political outfit National Citizen Party, had threatened to breach India’s territorial integrity.

“I want to tell Bharat in clear terms that if you keep sheltering those who do not believe in the sovereignty, voting and human rights of our country, we will shelter the separatists of India and separate the Northeast,” Hasnat had warned.

He accused India of making the “patrons” of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rise against Bangladesh by giving them money and arms.

The provocation from Bangladesh started earlier this year when Chief Adviser of the country’s interim government Prof Mohammed Yunus stated, “Seven states of India in its eastern part are a land-locked region. They have no way to reach the ocean. We are the only guardians of the ocean.”

Later, the threat shifted to the “chicken neck”, a 22 km-35 km wide corridor in Siliguri connecting the Northeast with the rest of India.CM Sarma had then stated that those who habitually threaten India on the Siliguri corridor must note that Bangladesh has two chicken necks and both are vulnerable.

He mentioned that the first chicken’s neck (80 km) runs from Dakhin Dinajpur in West Bengal to South West Garo Hills in Meghalaya, while the other, Chittagong Corridor (28 km), runs from South Tripura till the Bay of Bengal.