Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah undertakes a review of the security of Siliguri corridor

The Siliguri Corridor, often called the "Chicken's Neck," is a narrow 22-60 km wide strip of land in West Bengal that connects India's northeastern states to the rest of the country. This strategic vulnerability has been a persistent security concern since Partition in 1947, when the Radcliffe Line severed direct land access to the Northeast, leaving this corridor as the sole terrestrial lifeline. The corridor's criticality was starkly exposed during the 1962 Sino-Indian War when Chinese advances threatened to sever it, and again during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War when refugee flows and military movements tested its capacity. Today, it remains the only land route for all road, rail, and pipeline connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura — a region of 45 million people and immense strategic value bordering China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The review meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 24, 2024, represents the highest-level political attention to this corridor's security in recent years. The attendance of the West Bengal Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, DGP, alongside senior officials from MHA, MoRTH, Army, BSF, SSB, and RPF underscores the multi-dimensional nature of the challenge — blending border management, infrastructure development, internal security, and centre-state coordination. The Multi Agency Centre's Standing Focus Group on Siliguri Corridor (SFG-SC), a specialized intelligence coordination mechanism under the MAC framework established after the 1999 Kargil Review Committee recommendations, presented a structured assessment — signalling institutional maturity in threat perception. The "quadrangular approach" to border security directed by Shah integrates four pillars: physical infrastructure (fencing, roads, floodlights), technological surveillance (sensors, drones, satellite imagery), human intelligence (local networks, village defence committees), and institutional coordination (inter-agency SOPs, joint operations). This mirrors the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) deployed along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders but adapted for the corridor's unique geography — flanked by Nepal and Bangladesh with Bhutan and China nearby. The direction for time-bound completion of infrastructure projects aligns with the Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) scheme and the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) launched in 2023 for border area development. Constitutionally, this falls under Union List entries: Entry 1 (Defence), Entry 2 (Armed Forces), Entry 14 (Treaties), and Entry 97 (Residuary powers). Article 355 casts a duty on the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance — directly applicable here. The Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 (struck down in 2005), the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Citizenship Act, 1955 (amended 2019) provide the legal framework for addressing illegal immigration — a key concern raised. Demographic changes in border districts like Uttar Dinajpur, Darjeeling, and Jalpaiguri have been flagged in multiple MHA reports. Shah's suggestions to the West Bengal CM — opening more Sainik Schools (currently 33 nationwide under the Sainik Schools Society, Ministry of Defence), increasing senior NCC cadets (NCC Act, 1948), and strengthening Civil Defence (Civil Defence Act, 1968) and Home Guards — reflect a "whole-of-society" approach to national security. These institutions build strategic depth by fostering defence orientation among youth and creating trained reserves for disaster response and internal security. Economically, the corridor carries 100% of land-based trade with the Northeast and is the route for the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) connectivity initiatives. Any disruption would cost the Northeast an estimated ₹2,500 crore daily (Assocham, 2017). The recent completion of the Sivok-Rangpo rail link and the under-construction Sevoke-Gangtok line enhance strategic mobility. Future implications include deeper integration of CAPFs with state police through the "One Border One Force" principle, expanded use of AI-driven surveillance under the Smart Fence pilot, and potential invocation of Article 355 or 356 if centre-state friction impedes security imperatives. The corridor's security is no longer just a border issue — it is the linchpin of India's Act East Policy, neighbourhood first diplomacy, and the territorial integrity of the Northeast.