Siliguri: Strategic Importance Of India's Chicken's Neck | Special Interview | Col. Keshab Rai

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:06]As we travel across Siliguri, we are speaking to different different people who are based here and also have worked here.

[00:00:15]Currently, we are with Colonel Keshav Rai, retired from the service. Sir, first of all, thank you for your service.

[00:00:23]Uh namaskar.

[00:00:25]I am Colonel Keshav Rai, retired as already told by Nivir.

[00:00:30]Uh I served Indian Army for around four decades. Four decades, sir. Uh 38 years to be uh It's a privilege, sir, to speak to you. Sir, first of all, I want to know you from two aspects. Firstly, as a retired serviceman and also as a local who has been staying in Siliguri. Your two perspective is important. The question is, Siliguri is a very important place. It is, like you said, mini India. Different different communities from the northeast, from the rest of the country, come here and do business, education, and different different things.

[00:01:05]Currently, we are hearing that the central government is now focused in fencing the remaining areas which remains unfenced. And also priority has been given to improve the security. How crucial, sir, this is for the country?

[00:01:19]Um everywhere where there's a likely bottleneck. We know the how much how it has stopped the complete world energy requirement or the energy supply chain.

[00:01:34]So, similarly, for the our country and the northeast India, which comprises of around 8% of land mass and around uh 4.5% of population.

[00:01:48]This Siliguri corridor, which at the narrowest point between the Bangladesh and India Nepal, is around 18 to 20 km and in between the Bangladesh and Bhutan all the all border is around 60 to 80 km. So, everything all the activities of Northeast India and the connectivity of this place is through this corridor. Secondly, this corridor is very strategically very important.

[00:02:30]On the south, we got Bangladesh.

[00:02:33]And as you know, with their demography population which places their religion more than the international uh law and the normal uh other aspect uh which are problem.

[00:02:53]Then, toward the north, we got China, with whom we had been having a problem.

[00:03:02]And uh Bhutan, of course, a friendly country, but it's still uh it is a different country. Their ethos are different.

[00:03:10]And toward the east, we got Nepal.

[00:03:14]Now, next is uh this Nepal and Bhutan.

[00:03:20]The till now, the few years or decades decades or back, there was no diplomatic force.

[00:03:28]Uh SSB has been deployed for last 10 15 years only. And the movement was free movement.

[00:03:37]And the ethnicity of the people of Bhutan, this uh hills of the Darjeeling, even the Siliguri, uh and the Nepali is same.

[00:03:47]And the ethnicity of the Bangladesh and the West Bengal and the Assam and the Tripura is the same.

[00:03:59]They speak the same language.

[00:04:01]Okay, and that Assam, they speak Assamese, but the rest they speak majorly some No, most there are many people who speak They are They are ethnic Bengalis there.

[00:04:11]Mhm.

[00:04:12]And ethnic Bengali in Assam comprises of I was going to >> both Hindu as well as the Muslim. Right.

[00:04:19]Okay, and that is the demographic change in the 12 districts of Assam in early parts of this century was very alarming.

[00:04:31]Okay, and Tripura, of course, is the Bengali speaking population.

[00:04:35]That's why this Siliguri Corridor as a militarily or the strategically very, very important. Yes, and also if we see that this is also very important trade corridor because Nepal is there, Bhutan is there, India and Bangladesh.

[00:04:54]And anyone from Nepal and Bhutan who wants to do business with Bangladesh, they have to go via Siliguri. So, it is a very important trade corridor. How important it is to, you know, make sure that this corridor remains safe so that we can also carry our trade in these other countries as well as within the Northeast safely and securely.

[00:05:13]Uh this trade route from here to Tibet Mhm. which was semi-independent country for last before 1949.

[00:05:27]And the British India Mhm.

[00:05:30]has worked almost a century to open that trade route to Tibet.

[00:05:38]>> And the Nepal got only lifeline to its everything through India. Bhutan, of course, is a totally dependent on the India.

[00:05:51]And also, there's a lot of economic assistance and all the aspect which Bhutan is dependent on India. And all the population of Northeast, that is around uh uh 5 crores population of seven sister of Northeast and the Sikkim.

[00:06:10]>> around Sikkim. Sikkim is very small population.

[00:06:15]They are very existence the livelihood everything uh means a trade opportunity.

[00:06:24]And through this uh place. So, but uh for the economic activities of the Northeast region economic uh sustainability of Bhutan and Nepal and uh if you put it across uh the sustainable growth of the country of Bangladesh is dependent on this Siliguri corridor. Right. That is the Very important point, sir, you have stated because this is a very crucial route and we do not understand it how small this route is and how significant, even though it is a bit small, but it is a very significant area.

[00:07:05]Uh tell us also you have served uh you have worked in the Northeast and different parts of the country. Um currently the situation is such that we are seeing that movement of vehicles happening very smoothly. But once upon a time when there was high insurgency in the Northeast, a lot of people and communities used to come to Siliguri for education or jobs or different different purpose because this was like a safe and peaceful place and some other areas were very disturbed. So, tell tell us about those years, those bygone years where here in Siliguri, what was the situation like and what was the you know, entire area like and how what are the changes that you have seen? Okay. Uh when you talk about Siliguri uh corridor Okay, we have to go with historical.

[00:07:47]Okay, there was no Siliguri corridor in British India.

[00:07:50]Because the West Bengal and the present Bangladesh were the same state. Undivided Bengal.

[00:07:57]Undivided Bengal included Assam, Odisha, present Bihar and Jharkhand. It's a big province. Yeah, it was a Bengal presidency.

[00:08:06]And in 1905 it was divided. Then in 1970 it was reunited.

[00:08:12]And Assam, Odisha, Bihar was separated during those 1977 or so.

[00:08:20]And when the partition took place 1947 parts of the Bengal province was made East Pakistan and rest was made West Pakistan.

[00:08:33]In 19 2015-16 there was a agreement between the Bangladesh government and Indian government when around 100 and 60 enclave Enclave means the Bangladesh land were inside India.

[00:08:52]Indian land were inside Bangladesh.

[00:08:55]There was enclave inside the enclave.

[00:08:58]Okay, 110 enclaves were handed over by India to Bangladesh and 51 or so enclave were handed over to by Bangladesh to India. And there is still one or two enclave which has not been exchanged.

[00:09:14]Now when this division took place in 1947 then this Siliguri corridor came up.

[00:09:23]Otherwise it was a small hamlet. Mostly by the Rajbanshis and the Gurkhas.

[00:09:28]Right. There was no other population.

[00:09:30]And the trade route from Calcutta to Guwahati even the rail lines were like that. Even the sea route inland water routes were there through Ganga ji Padma and the Brahmaputra. But when this division of 1947 took place then this Siliguri came up. Okay.

[00:09:53]Because all the existence routes were divided into >> Yeah, yeah. It went through the East Pakistan. East Pakistan, right. Then East Pakistan. Then the when they started slowly building up the Siliguri uh development of Siliguri started with that and in early '60s the infrastructure in Siliguri area itself was not that uh good then.

[00:10:17]1962 war came which uh exposed the vulnerability of uh Northeast. Then the the Indo-China war.

[00:10:27]Yeah. Then the disturbance in the Northeast shall the research uh insurgency increase in the insurgency.

[00:10:36]This is basically, you know, aspiration of the indigenous people of the Northeast grew with the education and all this thing. Earlier they were happy uh doing their going around and doing their own core. But when the education and all this is spread the uh aspiration of the indigenous people of the Northeast region grew that uh led to conflict of interest of the Gurkhas and the Bengalis who were actually controlling complete almost all the business and everything in the Northeast. And all those has to pass through this Siliguri.

[00:11:16]And due to the uh the not very peaceful uh environment there a lot of Gurkhas, Bengalis, and even the indigenous Manipuris, people from Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, they came and settled here nearest to their place >> but away from the conflict area and disturbed area and Siliguri was the other thing. And the business opportunity through open lot of opportunities and by early I would say 80s 90s it came