Overview

• Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that India’s leadership under Indira Gandhi failed to capitalize on its 1971 military victory by not securing long-term strategic advantages.
• Sarma highlighted missed opportunities, including a broader corridor through northern Bangladesh and access to the Chittagong Port, which left India’s northeastern states isolated and landlocked.
• He criticized the lack of agreements to mandate the return of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, which he argued has caused demographic shifts and social instability in Assam and the Northeast.
• The Chief Minister pointed out that India’s support for a secular Bangladesh was undermined as Islam was declared the state religion in 1988, alongside the dwindling Hindu minority in the country.
• Sarma also alleged that Bangladesh became a safe haven for anti-India insurgent groups over the decades, exploiting the strategic vacuum left unresolved after the 1971 war.