Source: CNKI original draft
In ancient Chinese warfare, opposing sides would compete to occupy some dangerous fortresses, such as the Jianmen Pass of the Shu Han regime.
This Jianmen Pass is the "throat" of Shu, so Zhuge Liang will set this place as a military town and send heavy troops to guard it.
And modern India is also facing the same situation as Shu Han, because it also has a "land of life" on its territory.
However, unlike Jianmen Pass, which is a naturally formed pass that occupies all the terrain, this "seven inches" in India is quite flat and connected to Bangladesh.
So, why didn't India directly occupy Bangladesh to prevent future troubles?
India is seven inches and borders many countries
On the map of India, the "Seven Inches" looks like a narrow corridor connecting the mainland of India with the northeast.
After investigation, it can be seen that this "corridor" is only 21 kilometers wide, and it is still the junction of many countries.
To the northeast stands the Kingdom of Bhutan, to the west by Nepal, to the southeast by Bangladesh, and to the north by the Sikkim regime.
Fortunately, India incorporated Sikkim into its territory in 1975, otherwise every direction on the "seven inches" would have been an "enemy".
But in terms of the strength of India and these countries, India is the most powerful of them. Then, some people may ask, why didn't India directly annex these countries, and it was a hundred?
Let's start with Bhutan. After World War II, India took control of Bhutan's government and parliament. Moreover, the country is at the mercy of India even when it conducts military operations.
Nepal, on the other hand, is holding economic power in the hands of India.
Since Nepal is a landlocked country bordered by India on three sides, the remaining border is next to China, but it is also separated from China by a towering Himalayan mountain range.
This is destined to Nepal to rely on India's exports when developing foreign trade. As a result, India took control of Nepal's economy.
Therefore, although these two countries are close to India's "seven inches", India is not afraid at all.
In the end, only Bangladesh remained, which was historically part of "India", but this "India" was British India.
India and Pakistan were divided, and the corridor was formed
This also began in the 18th century, when Britain wanted to colonize the world after completing the Industrial Revolution. In 1757, British troops arrived in India and expelled all the French forces there.
When the British completed this, it meant that India began to become a British colony.
In 1816, the British invaded Nepal and signed a treaty of land cession, and the ancient city of Siliguri in northeastern India was included in British India.
By 1849, the British had occupied all of India. Since Bangladesh shares a border with India, it naturally has not escaped the "claws" of the United Kingdom.
In the mid-18th century, Bangladesh became a province of British India.
British colonial rule over India lasted until 1947, but Britain did not want a unified and independent Indian regime in the world, so it used religion and ethnicity to divide India. Therefore, the situation of "partition of India and Pakistan" has emerged.
India and Bangladesh were originally countries with a strong religious atmosphere, but the main religions of the two countries are different, the former is Hinduism and the latter is Islam.
Thus, this gives Britain an opportunity to take advantage of.
Under the deliberate planning of the British, India was divided into three parts: India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan.
Moreover, Britain also set up two "Radcliffe Lines" at the boundary between India and Pakistan to curb the development of India itself.
However, East Pakistan did not fully occupy the territory of the former northeastern British India, and created a narrow corridor above the border, connecting the Indian mainland with the northeastern mainland.
This corridor is the Siliguri Corridor that was snatched from Nepal by the British and extended outward from Siliguri as the center.
East Pakistan is two separate lands from West Pakistan and is economically controlled by West Pakistan.
Therefore, in 1970, East Pakistan launched a war of independence, seceded from Pakistan, and formed Bangladesh.
So, why didn't India take advantage of the internal struggle between East and West Pakistan to "take East Pakistan into its pocket"? In this way, it will be able to fully control the territory of the northeast.
Actually, it's not that India doesn't want to do this, it's just that it can't.
Bangladesh, difficult to occupy
During the East Pakistan War of Independence, India secretly sought the help of the Soviet Union and launched an attack on East Pakistan in November, which was won.
Just when India was complacent, the United States intervened, because the United States was in the midst of a cold war with the Soviet Union at this time.
Once the Soviet Union had more international allies than the United States, the United States would not be able to sit on its superpower status. So in December, the United States imposed a truce between India and East Pakistan.
And in the face of East Pakistan's request for independence, the United States also agreed. After all, a newborn and not powerful country is easier to control.
In addition to the mediation of the United States, East Pakistan also sought China's help in the war.
Compared to India, which only had the Soviet Union, East Pakistan was backed by the United States and China, which doomed India to be unable to occupy Bangladesh and thus widen the Siliguri corridor.
Secondly, Bangladesh is actually not easy to capture.
First of all, in the middle of the 20th century, Bangladesh was an independent sovereign country with a population of more than 170 million and a land area of nearly 150,000 square kilometers.
At this time, India's native population exceeded 600 million. If Bangladesh is really forcibly included in the territory, the surging population will become a huge obstacle to India's economic development.
It will also weigh on India's already fragile infrastructure and health system.
Another point is that Bangladesh is a devout follower of Islam, and there is a conflict with the indigenous religion of India, which will lead to religious conflict again.
As a result, India can only watch Bangladesh, bordering its Siliguri corridor.
However, as it is the only gateway to India in the northeast, India also attaches great importance to it, with a large number of army and border security forces deployed here.
In addition, the corridor is a transitional zone between mainland India and Southeast Asian countries, which has also pushed the Indian government to start a strong development of the Northeast region to strengthen the central government's control here.
After all, theoretically speaking, once this corridor is intercepted, it will directly cut off the connection between India mainland and the northeast region, so as to incite the northeast region to split from India and then become independent, just like the original East Pakistan.
And this is a consequence that India cannot afford, so India has also invested a lot of money in the northeast to keep it in the middle of India's territory.
Resources:
Road traffic in the Siliguri Corridor: distribution characteristics, traffic capacity and geological setting
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