After using Pakistan to “test” its weapons against India, China is propping up Bangladesh. Chinese officials are reportedly inspecting a World War II air base in Bangladesh closer to India’s ‘Chicken Neck,’ which connects the North Eastern states of India with the rest of the country.
Defense experts see the Chinese Army or Air Force gaining access to an airbase in Bangladesh as inimical to India’s strategic interests in the North East and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which sit at the mouth of the Malacca Strait, a critical choke point for China.
Indian intelligence agencies have information that Chinese military officials have recently visited the Rangpur district. Rangpur district is just 20 km from the Indian border and 130 kilometers from Siliguri, an important Indian military hub. In January this year, a top Pakistani spy visited the Rangpur district.
EurAsian Times was the first to report that Bangladesh had invited China to develop Lamonirhat airbase. The news became a Hot Topic in India and sparked a flurry of debates across the country.
Now, the Assam Tribune quoted Indian agencies saying that Chinese officials were interested in the World War II-era air base at Lamonirhat. Dhaka has sought assistance from China to revive the airbase. The project was unveiled in March 2025.
Lamonirhat was once one of the biggest airfields in Asia. It was built in 1931 as a military airbase. During the Second World War, the Allied Forces operated from here to conduct missions in Burma and other Southeast Asian Countries.
The project comes at a time when Bangladeshi politicians, including Muhammad Yunus’s close aides, have been making not-so-veiled references to annexing the North Eastern states of India.
Indian security agencies are monitoring the development closely. It is unclear if the airfield is being developed for civilian or military purposes or if the Chinese and Pakistani air forces will have access to it.
After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, a decision was taken to turn it into a BAF headquarters, but the proposal has been gathering dust until now. The abandoned airport has a four-km-long runway, a huge tarmac, a hangar, and a taxiway.
The North Eastern states of India consist of eight landlocked states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, and Sikkim), of which Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Assam share borders with Bangladesh. These states are connected to mainland India through the 22-kilometre-wide Siliguri Corridor (popularly known as the Chicken’s Neck).
The Corridor is a tiny stretch of land. It extends around 60 kilometres in length and almost 22 kilometres in width, reducing to 17 kilometres in certain places. The Siliguri Corridor is located in a place encircled by three countries: Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.
“This has obvious adverse implications if Bangladesh allows access to PLAAF or to PAF,” Lt Gen Anil Ahuja (Retired) told the EurAsian Times. Lt. Gen Ahuja is a former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff for Policy Planning and Force Development of the Indian Army and has commanded an operational Corps and a Mountain Division in Arunachal Pradesh, along the Northern borders.
“With respect to PLAAF, I would particularly be concerned about the maritime implications and implications for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Even with current deployments, China can access most of our North East, but with bases at much lower altitude and extended geographic location from which the threat could manifest, would create greater Air Defence challenges overall,” Lt. Gen Ahuja added.
The former Indian Army officer considers the development more challenging for India’s maritime security. “Access to air bases in Bangladesh gives PLAAF reach till Andaman & Nicobar, which otherwise China does not have. This will have implications for our dominance of the Bay of Bengal.”
Chinese Weapons In The Hands Of India’s Adversaries
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China accounted for nearly 82 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023. The India-Pakistan military confrontation marked the first use of various Chinese weapon systems in combat.
In the recent Indo-Pak military conflict, Islamabad relied heavily on the new Chinese-built J-10C and JF-17 fighter jets. Pakistan also has several Chinese products in its arsenal, including the PL-12 and PL-15, both of which can fire at targets beyond visual range.
Pakistan also deployed the HQ-9 air defense system, which is based on the Russian S-300. Pakistani troops have been constantly firing across the LoC using Chinese-made SH-15 155mm Mounted Gun Systems (MGS).
This gives an indication of the threat that Chinese arms in the hands of the Bangladeshi military could pose. Since 2009, China has become the largest supplier of arms to Dhaka.
Chinese weapons are estimated to make up 82 percent of the Bangladesh Defense Forces’ total inventory. These include Ming-class diesel-electric attack submarines, Shadhinota-class C13B corvettes, MBT-2000 Type 90-II and VT-5 light tanks, HQ-7 short-range surface-to-air missiles, and 36 F-7BGI fighter jets. Beijing has also given Dhaka a license to build various Chinese small and light weapons.
“Even otherwise, if no access/bases are given to China or Pakistan, these newly refurbished Bangladesh airfields, coupled with China giving arms and air-launched missiles to Bangladesh (akin to what they have done for Pakistan), would result in enhanced threat manifestation. These developments need to be watched,” Lt. Gen. Ahuja added.
Lt Gen Subrata Saha (Retd), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, concurs with Lt Gen. Ahuja.
“An airbase so close-in peacetime allows the adversary to keep a close watch on our activities; in hostilities, however, it is a vulnerability for the adversary as it can be targeted easily. Seen in the larger geostrategic context of China in the North and Yunus’s Bangladesh in the South, it is a greater challenge for India and needs to be nipped in the bud if it is true,” Lt. Gen. Saha told the EurAsian Times.
