China inspects Bangladesh's proposed air base site near India's 'Chicken Neck'
The proposed air base at Rangpur division is barely 20 km from the Indian border;
Guwahati, May 16: Indian agencies have inputs that Chinese officials had recently visited the site of the air base Bangladesh is building near India’s ‘Chicken Neck’.
Dhaka had been seeking assistance from China to build the air base at the site at Lalmonirhat which had housed an air field of the World War II era. The project was unveiled in March 2025, triggering a caution for Indian defence forces, especially in the eastern sector.
It comes against the backdrop of repeated references by Bangladesh’s advisor Muhammad Yunus and his aides to the Northeast in different contexts.
The proposed air base at Rangpur division is barely 20 km from the Indian border.
Official sources said that Indian agencies are maintaining a close watch on the assets that would be housed at the proposed air base.
The agencies are watching whether the air base would be used for civilian purposes, training or to deploy futuristic aircraft, the sources added.
“More importantly, 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.
India has a strong military presence in the Northeast and the Siliguri corridor. Indian Army’s Trishakti Corps is headquartered near Siliguri. The Hasimara air base in the corridor houses Rafale squadrons.
Moreover, the Lalmonihat air base is within India’s artillery striking range.
“What has raised concerns is that the air base may be used to monitor India military movements in a conflict scenario and also become a hub of intelligence gathering. It is not clear as to what Dhaka has planned at the air base,” the officials said, referring to the India-China standoff at Doklam.
Defence ties between Dhaka and Beijing had been deepening under the new regime in Bangladesh. China has been supplying vast volumes of weapons and extending cooperation is construction of military infrastructure in Bangladesh.