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Bangladeshi Retired General Suggests Northeast Offensive if India Retaliates Against Pakistan Over Pahalgam Attack
New Delhi:
In a controversial and provocative statement, ALM Fazlur Rahman, a retired Bangladeshi major general and former chief of the Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh), suggested that Bangladesh should consider occupying India’s northeastern states in the event of a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.
Rahman, who is regarded as a close associate of Bangladesh’s chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, made the remarks in a Facebook post written in Bengali. He also advocated for a strategic alliance with China to support such an initiative.
“If India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh will have to occupy the seven northeastern states of India. In this regard, I feel it is necessary to start discussions on joint military arrangements with China,” Rahman wrote, referring to the region commonly known as the Seven Sisters.
The remarks come amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people. India has since announced a series of measures against Pakistan, blaming it for cross-border involvement in the attack.
Rahman’s comments also follow previous statements by Muhammad Yunus during his March visit to China, where he described India’s northeastern states as landlocked and highlighted Bangladesh’s access to the ocean as a strategic advantage. Yunus called Bangladesh the “guardian of the ocean” in the region, suggesting that this positioning could serve China’s broader economic outreach.
These remarks have been met with strong criticism in India, particularly from leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who view them as undermining India’s territorial sovereignty and regional stability.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar appeared to counter such narratives during a BIMSTEC meeting in April, where he underscored the growing significance of the Northeast as a regional connectivity hub. “Our northeastern region is emerging as a connectivity hub for BIMSTEC, with an expansive network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines,” he said, affirming India’s commitment to the region’s development.
In a possible response to the recent strain in bilateral ties, India also discontinued a nearly five-year-old arrangement for the transshipment of Bangladeshi export cargo through Indian airports and ports, citing increasing congestion and logistical pressures.
Rahman’s comments are likely to add further strain to Indo-Bangladeshi relations at a time when efforts are underway to stabilize diplomatic engagement following recent upheavals, including the asylum-seeking of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and India’s concerns over incidents targeting Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
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