thumb|right|250px|The Siliguri Corridor is the strip of Indian territory within the red highlighted circle.

thumb|right|245x245px|[[AH2 of the Asian Highway goes through the Siliguri Corridor.]]

thumb|242x242px|Dimensions of the corridor. Distances in kilometers.|right

The Siliguri Corridor, often dubbed the "Chicken's Neck", is a stretch of land around the city of Siliguri in West Bengal state of India. It is the sole terrestrial connection between India's mainland and its eight northeastern states, serving as a logistical lifeline for over 40 million people and crucial military movements. The city of Siliguri is the major city in the area and the central transfer point connecting Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Northeast India and mainland India. From Sikkim, India consolidated its control of the Chumbi Valley, along with Bhutan.

Geography

The dimensions of the corridor are a matter of interpretation. Descriptions give it an area of with the narrowest section being .

The corridor is located between Bangladesh to the southwest, Nepal on the northwest, and Bhutan to the north. Between Sikkim and Bhutan lies the Chumbi Valley Tibetan territory. The southern end of the Dolam plateau or Doklam tri boundary area slopes into the corridor. At the narrowest stretch, the corridor is generally formed by the Mechi River in the east; Nepal's Bhadrapur lies on the banks of the river. Further north the Mechi Bridge connects Mechinagar.

Vulnerability mitigation by India

To mitigate the vulnerability India has undertaken several initiatives including enhancing security deployment as well as undertaking infrastructure development. To ensure seamless connectivity and military mobilization, India has prioritized developing high-capacity infrastructure in and around the corridor, notably under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Projects include:

  • Future Infrastructure: Consideration of subterranean infrastructure (tunnels) within the corridor to enhance security and reduce exposure to external threats. Other projects include Northeastern India connectivity and Look-East transnational connectivity projects including BIMSTEC and BBIN to create multiple alternatives to Silliguri corridor, including through Bangladesh and the sea.

All land transportation between the rest of India and its far northeastern states uses this corridor. The route has a major broad gauge railway line. Electrification of this double-track corridor is in progress with assistance from the Central Organization for Railway Electrification (CORE). Additionally, the old metre gauge line (recently converted to a broad-gauge line) connects Siliguri Junction with Islampur in the North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, via Bagdogra (the only airport of national interest in the corridor) and the bordering towns of Adhikari, Galgalia, Thakurganj, Naxalbari and Taiabpur with Nepal. As of 2024, to reduce dependence on the Siliguri Corridor, India is planning to build railway lines through Jogbani in Bihar, which would enter Biratnagar in Nepal and then connect with New Mal Junction in West Bengal. India is also developing railway lines through Bangladesh, which includes constructing new railway tracks and the gauge conversion of existing railway tracks, in order to reduce dependence on the Siliguri Corridor, as of 2024.

As of 2024, there is no free-trade agreement between Bangladesh and India. The Tetulia Corridor, an alternative to the Siliguri Corridor, is proposed under Article VIII of the India–Bangladesh Trade Agreement 1980, which states that "The two governments agree to make mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways, railways and roadways for commerce between the two countries and for passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other". However, the opening of the Tetulia Corridor is still being discussed politically as of 2019. The probability of China cutting off seven states in northeast India has been questioned. The Indian Army has said that the Siliguri Corridor is the Army's strongest defensive line. Internal threats to the corridor are numerous.

  • The corridor and the surrounding region are secured by multiple military formations, primarily Indian Army's Trishakti Corps (XXXIII Corps), which guards the corridor and Sikkim. In a significant move to reinforce the eastern frontier, India established three new military garrisons in late 2025 to boost surveillance, readiness, and coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF):
  • Forward Bases at Kishanganj (Bihar) and Chopra (West Bengal), which are intended for rapid troop deployment and intelligence coordination. However, Indian geostrategic think tanks and analysts, such as Karnad, point out that in case of any misadventure by Bangladesh India can annex the Rangpur Division which is one of the two chicken neck vulnerabilities of Bangladesh, or India can offer to buy it for $10-$20 billion thus helping Bangladesh reduce its outstanding debt of $104 billion), alternatively Bangladesh could provide "an absolute and enforceable guarantee with a treaty that it will not, under any circumstances, create a strategic nexus or work militarily in concert with China (or Pakistan)". India-Bangladesh enjoyed excellent bilateral relations during the Awami League (AL)'s rule which was disrupted after overthrow of AL's Sheikh Hasina government and anti-India rhetorics of Bangladeshi hardliners. This view is also supported by the United Nations's ESCAP study, which cites SAARC's Regional Multimodal Transport Study (SRMTS), that Bangladesh can tap into opportunities by being the regional connectivity and transport hub between land locked North East India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Bangladesh

Bangladeshi National Citizen Party's leader Hasnat Abdullah has rhetorically threatened to cut off India's northeastern states by cutting off India's chicken's neck, i.e. Siliguri Corridor, while downplaying India's contribution in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. While India has two chicken's neck, Bangladesh also has the following two chicken's neck along its border with India. Both of these, comprising 34.2% or 50,715 km<sup>2</sup> Bangladesh's total territory, are narrower and more vulnerable than India's Siliguri Corridor or Tripura Corridor, and contribute 30-45% to economy of Bangladesh and 80% of Bangladesh's total export-import is through Chittagong Port in this vulnerable area. These counter-vulnerabilities, which could be exploited in the event of aggression, are described as North Bangladesh Corridor (Rangpur Division) and Chittagong Corridor (a slender strip, reportedly 28 kilometres at its narrowest, connecting the port city of Chittagong - the economic capital- with the political capital of Dhaka).

  • Rangpur chicken's neck, the northern part of Bangladesh's Rangpur Division contiguous to India's Siliguri Corridor is narrower. While Siliguri Corridor is nearly 20&nbsp;km long at its narrowest section, the 80&nbsp;km long northern Rangpur Division is only nearly 10 to 15&nbsp;km long at its narrowest vulnerable section and making this area more vulnerable the narrowest section runs along the Karatoya River which isolates it from the rests of Bangladesh. This 16,185 km<sup>2</sup> area, which constitutes 10.9% of Bangladesh's total area, contributes significantly to economy of Bangladesh especially in rice, jute, agriculture, food security and transport. This area is surrounded by India on three and half sides by almost 320-330 degree.
  • Chittagong chicken's neck, the southeastern part of Bangladesh's Chittagong Division contiguous to Northeast India is less than 20–28&nbsp;km at its narrowest vulnerable section. This 34,530 km<sup>2</sup> area, which constitutes 23.3% of Bangladesh's total area, contributes significantly to economy of Bangladesh especially because 80% of Bangladesh's export and import happens through Port of Chittagong located in this vulnerable area (remaining 20% export-import to India-Nepal-Bhutan largely happens through border with India). This area also contributes significantly to Bangladesh's economy through tourism and surface border trade. This area is surrounded largely by India which also has insurgency-ridden Buddhist-majority Chittagong Hill Tracts in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. A smaller southern section is surrounded by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar with which Bangladesh also has Bangladeshi-origin Rohingya Muslim related conflict, while Bangladesh continues to refuse to accept Rohingya Muslims as refugees in its territory who have waged separatist insurgency against Myanmar. (named "Akhnoor Dagger" by Pakistani Military, and as "Pakistan's Akhnoor Chicken's neck Corridor" by Indian Military) a narrow strip of Pakistani territory that extends into the Indian administered-Jammu and Kashmir south of Akhnoor. This sensitive piece of land, which lies on the de facto Indo–Pakistani border on the west side of the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, is part of Punjab Province's Sialkot District and measures roughly . This is evidenced by India's swift 1971 capture of the area, which effectively negated the perceived threat to Akhnoor. Any perceived vulnerability of India is further mitigated by improved infrastructure development by India, which now has many more high-capacity bridges and numerous alternate transport links connecting Jammu to Akhnoor and India to wider Jammu and Kashmir region, providing redundancy and resilience to the military supply lines. In fact, the area has been argued to be a Pakistani vulnerability, as the land is a narrow doab between the Chenab and Tawi rivers surrounded by India from three sides, and is further doubly-isolated from the rest of Pakistan by the Chenab–Munawar Tawi doab to its southwest within Pakistan.