Bangladesh’s interim government adviser Muhammad Yunus has tried to jab New Delhi by issuing a veiled threat to India’s northeastern states while appealing to China to “extend” in the region. Mr Yunus, who was on a four-day visit to Beijing last week, asked Beijing to make an “extension”, saying that the “seven sister states are landlocked” by Bangladesh to its west.
The tongue-in-cheek remark, which defence analysts have called distasteful, surfaced on social media upon Muhammad Yunus’s return to Bangladesh. In the video, he is seen urging the Chinese government to “extend” in the region by establishing a base in Bangladesh and indirectly stifling India’s northeastern states since they are “landlocked”.
“The seven states of India, in the eastern part of India – called the seven sister states are completely landlocked. They have no way to reach the ocean. We (Bangladesh) are the only guardian of the ocean for the entire region (northeast India),” Mr Yunus is seen saying in the video.
He adds that “So, this opens up a huge possibility for China – this could become an extension of the Chinese economy. Build things, market them, take them back to China, or export to the rest of the world.”
Taking a dim view of the Bangladeshi leader’s remarks, Sanjeev Sanyal, who is a member of PM Modi’s economic advisory council, shared the video on social media platform X.
Interesting that Yunus is making a public appeal to the Chinese on the basis that 7 states in India are land-locked. China is welcome to invest in Bangladesh, but what exactly is the significance of 7 Indian states being landlocked? https://t.co/JHQAdIzI9s
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) March 31, 2025
Mr Sanyal wrote, “Interesting that Yunus is making a public appeal to the Chinese on the basis that 7 states in India are land-locked. China is welcome to invest in Bangladesh, but what exactly is the significance of 7 Indian states being landlocked?”
CHINA’S PLANS IN BANGLADESH
Mr Yunus, who held detailed discussions with China’s Xi Jinping during his visit, thanked Beijing for agreeing to his appeal for China to enhance maritime cooperation with Dhaka. The two nations signed an agreement for Chinese companies to “participate in modernisation and expansion of Bangladesh’s Mongla Port”. The two sides also agreed to collaborate to develop and expand the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone in Chattogram,” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said.
According to a report in Bangladesh’s state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, China has agreed to spending $400 million to modernize and expand Mongla Port, and has allocated #350 million for expanding the China Economic and Industrial Zone. An additional $150 million has been reserved for providing technical assistance.
Besides this, My Yunus pleaded with Beijing to provide a 50-year assistance to Bangladesh over river water management. “China is the master of water management,” said Mr Yunus, adding that “We have come to learn from you,” Bangladesh’s state-run media agency quoted him as saying.
Bangladesh has asked China to help it manage its Teesta river, which it jointly shared with India. India being upstream, Sheikh Hasina’s government had sought direct cooperation with New Delhi on the matter, but the Yunus government wants Beijing’s intervention in the matter.
He also asked for help manage its overall river waters. “Bangladesh’s problem lies not just with one river, but its overall river system,” Mr Yunus reportedly told Xi Jinping.
The two countries also signed an agreement on the Exchange of Hydrological Information for the Yarlung Zangbo-Jamuna River, which flows from Tibet to India, before merging with the Ganga river and entering Bangladesh.