Amit Shah orders larger security footprint in Siliguri Corridor

Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed all security and intelligence agencies on Saturday to expand their presence in the Siliguri Corridor, the narrow 60 km by 22 km stretch that connects India's eight north-eastern states to the rest of the country.

Shah gave the order during a review of the corridor's security in Siliguri. He said agencies should establish more institutions in the area, clear encroachments, and take all steps to stop illegal immigration, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

The Siliguri Corridor, sometimes called the Chicken Neck, wedges between Bangladesh to the south and west, and Tibet (China) to the north. It also links India to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. Its strategic vulnerability has made it a long-standing focus for border security.

Shah urged the West Bengal government to strengthen the Civil Defence and Home Guards in the corridor, a comment directed at state Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who attended the meeting. Adhikari, a member of Shah's Bharatiya Janata Party, heads a state government that shares responsibility for internal security.

During the meeting, the Multi Agency Centre's Standing Focus Group on Siliguri Corridor presented its progress and recommendations. Shah reviewed the status of all infrastructural projects in the corridor that are critical to its security. He stressed the concept of a "quadrangular approach" to border security and ordered all agencies to implement it fully, without elaborating on what the approach entails.