The US Supreme Court has cleared Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India over the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Meanwhile, India is alarmed by Bangladesh’s reported plan to revive Lal Monirhat airbase with Chinese and Pakistani backing.
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00:00Bangladesh to build new airbase near the sensitive Siliguri Corridor, Dhaka seeks Chinese funds
00:11and Pak fighter jets, after Muhammad Yunus refers to North East as landlocked, Chinese
00:23funded port and airbase in Bangladesh, is Dhaka breaching Delhi's red lines, that's
00:33our top focus on India First.
00:36So this Lal Buneer Hutt airbase in northern Bangladesh, it was built originally by the
00:44Royal Indian Air Force, so the British Air Force in 1931, it was used during World War
00:49II, it's been inactive for decades, some reports suggest that Bangladesh Air Force,
00:56it did have a maintenance unit there, but Muhammad Yunus is raising its revitalization
01:02in Beijing, seeking Chinese funds and Pakistani expertise and fighter jets for deployment
01:08and this has raised eyebrows in India, there are reports that a high level Bangladeshi
01:14defence delegation led by Lt Gen S M Kamrul Hassan, they visited Pakistan, met Pakistan
01:21Air Force Chief and media in Pakistan has been writing about Bangladesh expressing interest
01:27in acquiring the JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, now this has been co-developed by China and
01:32Pakistan, they have been discussing military cooperation, this is Bangladesh and Pakistan
01:37including potential training opportunities, so is there reason for India to be concerned,
01:43is Dhaka breaching Delhi's red lines, we discuss that in great detail, I'm Gaurav Sawant,
01:49as always let's get started with the headlines on India First at 10.
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03:01more than 740 points, sensex plummets over 2200 points, markets take a hit across Asia.
03:11Government increases excise duty on petrol and diesel by 2 rupees a litre, oil companies
03:20to absorb the hike, no impact on consumers, LPG cylinder prices hike by 50 rupees for
03:26both subsidised and non-subsidised consumers.
03:41News just coming in from the United States of America, the US Supreme Court has denied
03:47Mumbai 2611 terror attacks, accused Major Tahawar Hussain Rana's application seeking
03:54a stay on his extradition to India.
03:57Now Major Tahawar Hussain Rana of the Pakistan Army living in Canada, a part of Lashkar-e-Taiba
04:04sleeper cell in the United States of America convicted of a terror attack or a terror plot
04:10in Denmark had renewed his emergency application for stay pending litigation of a petition
04:17of a writ of habeas corpus and requested that the renewed application be directed to Chief
04:24Justice Roberts in the United States of America.
04:28But on Monday, a notice on the Supreme Court website said and I quote, application denied
04:36by court.
04:37This is a major development and paves the way for Tahawar Hussain Rana's extradition
04:44to India to face trial in the 2611 Mumbai terror attacks case.
04:49I want to quickly bring in India Today's legal editor Nalini Sharma for more on this
04:54big breaking story.
04:56Nalini, finally, decks cleared for this Pakistani origin Canadian Dr. Tahawar Hussain Rana to
05:05face trial in India or can he still seek some legal recourse?
05:10Can he take to some legal recourse in America to avoid being sent to India to face trial
05:15in 2611 Mumbai case?
05:18Well, Gaurav, all his options before the U.S. Supreme Court have officially exhausted with
05:23this application being rejected by none other than the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme
05:28Court itself.
05:29And the reason why it's important, Gaurav, is because when the extradition was first
05:34ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, the prosecutors and the Department of Justice at that time
05:39had assured Tahawar Rana that he will not be handed over to the Indian agencies till
05:44the time his emergency application is not decided upon.
05:47Now that an order has come on his emergency application and we're still waiting for the
05:51full copy of the order.
05:52But now that we know that it's been rejected, that officially means that Tahawar Rana can
05:56be handed over to the Indian officials for his extradition proceedings to officially
06:00kick off, which means that his return back to India can be expedited now from this order
06:07coming in from the U.S. Supreme Court.
06:09Gaurav, if you remember, in this emergency application that he had filed, he categorically
06:13stated that the reason why he's afraid of being extradited back to India is because
06:17he's of Pakistani origin and also he's a Muslim and considering the kind of atrocities
06:22the minority communities in India are facing, there's a very strong likelihood that he might
06:26not even be allowed to face trial and might even face death before he faces a trial.
06:31But all of those grounds have obviously had no water by the U.S. Supreme Court, which
06:36on Friday had met in a private conference where they have decided that there is no merit
06:41in this application because of which it has now been rejected and officially the decks
06:45have been cleared for Tahawar Rana.
06:46So here is a Pakistani terror supporter who wants to take recourse to every legal loophole
06:53to try avoid facing trial.
06:55I want to bring in India Today's Foreign Affairs Editor, Geeta Mohan, joining us for
06:59more on this case.
07:00And Geeta, India has relentlessly pursued this case.
07:04This man is a wanted terrorist supporter in India.
07:07He's carried out reconnaissance operations, not just in Mumbai, but also in Delhi and
07:12several other Indian cities.
07:13So there are many links of Pakistani state and quasi-state involvement in 2611 that he
07:20can shed light on.
07:21Why is this extradition so important, Geeta?
07:23Well, it is absolutely important that India starts bringing what Pakistan is not doing,
07:30starts bringing people to India to bring them to justice.
07:33Because otherwise there is no justice on any count when it comes to 2611.
07:38Because like India has been saying, like every previous spokesperson in the past, Gaurav
07:44had said, which began with Syed Akbaruddin, that 99 percent of the evidence lies in Pakistan.
07:50The onus lies on Pakistan to really bring the perpetrators to book.
07:54This is India's window.
07:56But remember, this is just part of procedure.
07:59The announcement was made not by courts, but by Donald Trump himself, when Prime Minister
08:04Modi was there, in his presence, at that press conference where we were there, I was there.
08:09And he made that very clear, that they're going to send a terrible man, a terrorist,
08:15back to India.
08:16So all this, him trying to find or seek recourse, is to no avail.
08:23He will be brought to India.
08:26It's only a matter of time.
08:28India today has the best team of reporters getting you a 360 degree perspective on this
08:34big story.
08:35I've covered the 2611 Mumbai terror attacks.
08:38I've covered the trial of David Coleman Headley in that Chicago federal court.
08:42And there is a lot of information that these terrorists and terror supporters and enablers
08:46have.
08:47I want to bring in Shivani Sharma into this conversation.
08:49Shivani, as far as this terror plot is concerned, now Ajmal Aamir Kassab, he got a fair trial
08:55in India.
08:56After following due process of law, he was ultimately hanged for his crimes.
09:01And look at people like Tahir Hussain Rana, after carrying out the terror attack in our
09:06country, they claim Muslims are not safe in India.
09:10That is yet another attack on our country.
09:12Of course, an attack like this, which is carried out by some even within this verbal attack
09:17on India's integrity.
09:18But this doesn't cut ice anymore, Shivani.
09:21It's very crucial that Tahir Hussain Rana is handed over and he spills the beans on
09:26who are the masterminds of 2611 in the Pakistani state, Shivani.
09:32Certainly, this is a big breakthrough where India had been trying for his extradition
09:37and now supposedly he'll be very soon in India and the investigations will go on.
09:42We know that Pakistan has not supported this investigation of 2611.
09:48And it took so long because of Pakistan's not supporting India in this investigation.
09:54There had been a lot of pressure from India, from international bodies also.
09:58And after all, after trying all the tricks, Tahir Hussain Rana, his plea has been denied.
10:05He will be extradited and the investigation will go on and perhaps justice will be done
10:11to all those who lost their lives in this attack.
10:14And it is actually laughable, Gaurav, when Tahir Hussain Rana is trying to say that
10:19India is not safe for minorities.
10:21Look at Pakistan, what's happening out there.
10:23And look at how it has been pushing terrorists inside Indian boundaries.
10:28And India has been raising this issue internationally.
10:31And now Pakistan is exposed.
10:34Every time it tries these tricks, it gets exposed.
10:37And once more, it is exposed of all the terror that it has been harboring.
10:42Shivani, Nalini and Geeta, India's finest team of reporters on ground,
10:47our correspondents and editors are tracking the story.
10:50And we will stay on top.
10:52For the moment, many thanks for joining me.
10:57Now, is Bangladesh seeking to revive the Lal Munir Hat Air Base
11:01using Chinese funds and Pakistani expertise,
11:05getting those China-Pakistan collaboration JF-17 Thunder fighter jets?
11:11Now, why is Lal Munir Hat important?
11:13It's in the northern part of Bangladesh.
11:15It's barely 160 to 200 kilometers away from that sensitive Siliguri Corridor.
11:20China has committed $2.1 billion in investment, loans and grants to Bangladesh.
11:26Mohammad Yunus was there recently.
11:28This was the agreement.
11:29And this package includes specific allocation for port-related projects too.
11:34So, $400 million have been pledged for the modernization of the Mangla Port,
11:39Bangladesh's second largest port.
11:41Should India be deeply concerned in airways and a port?
11:45Is this a breach of India's security redline?
11:49I have Ambassador Veena Sikri, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh,
11:52joining me on the broadcast.
11:53I have Air Marshal Anil Khosla, former Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Eastern Air Command,
11:58former Vice Chief of Air Staff, joining me on this special broadcast.
12:01We'll talk to them in great detail, but first, this report.
12:05Nobel Laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus, Interim Advisor to Bangladesh Government,
12:13sought a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
12:16on the sidelines of the recent BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.
12:20Despite the handshake and cordial conversation, Bangladesh under Mohammad Yunus
12:26is reported to be taking hostile steps to adversely impact India's security redlines
12:31near the Chicken's Neck or Siliguri corridor.
12:33Analysts in India have reacted strongly to reports
12:36that Bangladesh has invited Chinese investment to revitalize the British Era base
12:42at Lal Mo Nirhad in North Bangladesh, close to the Siliguri corridor.
12:47Analysts in India have reacted strongly to reports
12:50that Bangladesh has invited Chinese investment to revitalize the British Era base
12:55British era base at Lal Munirhat in North Bangladesh close to the Siliguri Corridor.
13:23The chicken's neck or the sensitive Siliguri Corridor is a slender 22 km wide strip of
13:29land in West Bengal.
13:31It is approximately 200 km long and connects Bengal to Assam and the seven sister states
13:36Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Sikkim.
13:44It is wedged between Nepal to the west, Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh to the south and
13:49the east.
13:50Reports suggest work on the Lal Munirhat airbase could begin by October 2025 and a Pakistani
13:57company would work as the subcontractor for the airbase project.
14:03Chief Advisor of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus not only invited investments by China but
14:07also proposed a number of establishments and structures in Bangladesh by China.
14:13India has been monitoring all these developments including the reports of an airfield that
14:17China plans to establish in Bangladesh's Lal Munirhat district that can pose a threat
14:23to India's chicken neck area.
14:25In a recent visit to Beijing, Muhammad Yunus had claimed Bangladesh was the only guardian
14:30of the ocean and the seven northeastern states of India are landlocked.
14:36Seven states of India, eastern part of India called seven sisters, they are landlocked
14:43country, landlocked region of India.
14:45They have no way to reach out to the ocean.
14:48We are the only guardian of the ocean for all this region.
14:53Yunus sought Chinese investment claiming there was a huge possibility for Beijing with Bangladesh
14:58becoming an extension of the Chinese economy.
15:01He said build things, market them, take them to China or export to the rest of the world.
15:07China, Bangladesh and Pakistan are thinking that by putting pressure on vulnerability
15:14of chicken's neck on India.
15:17But they forget that India is fully prepared, whether it is materially, strategically, infrastructure
15:23wise, diplomatically, economically, we can take different measures.
15:28As far as India is concerned, the defense of Sirikuri corridor is of a prime importance
15:35and India take no chance.
15:37India has deployed the best of the weapon system and our defenses, whether it is on
15:40land or air, is impregnable.
15:45China has reportedly pledged $350 million to expand the China economic and industrial
15:51zone in Chattogram with another $150 million allocated for technical assistance.
15:58Bangladesh has also sought Chinese assistance on Teesta water management seeking a 50-year
16:03management plan.
16:04CDS had recently visited the area and the army chief also in a recent remark said that
16:17the chicken's neck is India's strength and not the weakness.
16:21India is monitoring all the developments that are happening in Bangladesh, China and Pakistan
16:27is all set to up its strength in these areas with regular exercises and enhanced deployments.
16:35This is Shivani Sharma with camera person Pawan Kumar for India Today from New Delhi.
16:41And let me quickly bring into this conversation Ambassador Veena Sikri, former Indian High
16:44Commissioner to Bangladesh and Air Marshal Khosla, former Air Officer Commanding in Chief
16:48Eastern Air Command and former Vice Chief.
16:51Ambassador Sikri, how seriously should India view this news of Bangladesh wanting to make
16:57or revive the Lal Munirhat airbase with Chinese funds and Pakistani jets and expertise?
17:28Chinese money and so near the Indian border that it has to constitute a direct threat.
17:33This news has come in all major newspapers and it has not been denied at all by any of
17:39the Bangladesh authorities.
17:40The second project which I must tell you about is also the Mongla Port Modernization.
17:44Again, this is a project which had been given by Sheikh Haseena to India and the first thing
17:49that Mohammed Yunus did was to dismantle the Indian connection with the project and to
17:53bring in China.
17:54Now they have awarded the project to China.
17:56Again, Mongla Port is not even a day sailing from Kolkata and is very well near the West
18:02Bengal-Bangladesh border and to be a direct threat to India's security interest.
18:08The third one is at Tista.
18:11Here again, the Tista water management project is something that China had always been showing
18:15interest in even when Sheikh Haseena was Prime Minister and they put a lot of pressure on
18:19her to accept this, to give the project to China, which involves bringing in water management
18:24and bank building and a large number of Chinese experts over there.
18:27India had really raised it very strongly with Sheikh Haseena and she had actually made a
18:32statement saying that this project should be awarded to India and not to China.
18:36And that was the main reason why China expressed so much dissatisfaction with her when she
18:40went there in July of last year.
18:41And now again, this has been awarded to China.
18:44So we're seeing the consistent effort of the Mohammed Yunus government to bring in China
18:50into every possible way.
18:51We've also seen Mahi Pramod on the North East telling the business...
18:54And look at how they're inching closer, how they're inching closer to our borders and
18:59Air Marshal Khosla, you know, India has our Rafales and BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles
19:05and the S-400 systems.
19:06But do we now have to grapple with this added tension if Pakistan were to help Bangladesh
19:13make an airbase close to Siliguri Corridor with Chinese assistance, especially after
19:17what happened in Dollam in 2017 or Doklam as the Chinese call it?
19:23Definitely Gaurav, in 2017 I handled the Doklam issue in Eastern Air Command and they were
19:30trying to inch through Bhutan and coming closer to the Siliguri Corridor.
19:34Now they're coming from the southern side and this airfield which we are talking about
19:39is south of Hachimara airfield, south of Poch Bihar.
19:43And what reports have come out is that it will be 700 acres property with about 70 fighters
19:51capability to operate from there.
19:53And it will not only have operational wing, it will also have, you know, three divisions,
19:58one for operations, one for university for teaching and one another one.
20:03So, this will be quite a potent base as far as Bangladesh is concerned.
20:07And bigger picture they should look into is that they are looking into getting fighter
20:12jets from Pakistan and China.
20:15In the beginning of the year, they showed interest in JF-17 as well as J-10C from China.
20:21And Chinese, they have become the second largest importer of arms from China after Pakistan.
20:27So, the nexus which is there between the three, that is a bigger issue.
20:30And as you brought out, it's a red line for us as far as Chicken's Neck is concerned.
20:36And we'll do whatever is required to be done to protect it.
20:39We'll do whatever it takes to protect it.
20:42And that message must go out loud and clear because Ambassador Sikri,
20:46this appears to be an openly hostile action, a breach of security or a breach of our red lines.
20:53What is worse, the establishment in Bangladesh appears to be inciting its people virtually
20:59every other day against India.
21:02And some within our own country were hailing that so-called student revolution,
21:07which was nothing but radical Islamists taking center stage in Bangladesh, madam.
21:11Absolutely, absolutely.
21:12The students' party, the so-called students' revolution was not a students' revolution at all.
21:17It was called a spontaneous student uprising.
21:20But we know very well, it was neither spontaneous nor a students' uprising.
21:24And the students were really the Islami Chhats should be remembered, who were the
21:29youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is now the real power behind the throne of Muhammad Yunus.
21:34And the Islami Chhats should be, and many other people who are the key chosen people of Muhammad
21:40Yunus have now formed a political party.
21:42And this is called the King's Party.
21:44It's called the National Citizens Party and so on.
21:47And one of the leaders of this party, Sargis Alam,
21:49had just today put out a tweet calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Modi.
21:54So they are getting, as you rightly say, more and more anti-Indian,
21:57more and more vicious every day.
21:59And they're doing it deliberately.
22:00They're doing it because they want to incite their own people into a kind of anti-Indian frenzy
22:06and to not let them think in any way about a peaceful, prosperous,
22:11and good neighborly relation between India and Bangladesh.
22:14Our Prime Minister made it very clear in his discussion with
22:18Professor Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok and in the tweet he put out later,
22:21that we are prepared for a constructive, people-to-people oriented relationship with Bangladesh.
22:26But Chief Advisor Yunus does not want that at all.
22:30And in addition to all of this that we're talking about,
22:33is the continuing attacks on the Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minorities.
22:38This has now become a silent terror.
22:40In fact, it has become so vicious that there are now silent arrests taking place.
22:44They don't come in the media at all.
22:46Nobody can report them because the media is completely gagged.
22:49And we do not get any of this news in the media.
22:52And nobody dare report about it.
22:53Chinmoy Das was the leader of the Hindu, and Christian, and Buddhist minority
22:58and had proposed an eight-point demand.
23:00He's been thrown into jail.
23:01And there's not a single trial for him, nor any bail for him.
23:07In fact, it was taken up.
23:08And again, Muhammad Yunus, I believe, told our Prime Minister
23:11that he's going to personally look into this case.
23:14But we know he made a similar promise in August of last year.
23:16And nothing happened after that.
23:18It just became worse, and worse, and worse.
23:20And it continues.
23:21So I think this genocide, this ethnic genocide that is going on in Bangladesh,
23:26very quietly, completely away from the media,
23:29and anything that comes in the Indian media is called propaganda.
23:32So I think it is absolutely shocking.
23:34It's time we call them out on this.
23:35You know, I think it's time we call them out.
23:37We know that even in the UN Commission, the complaints have been made.
23:40Absolutely.
23:41No, we'll call a spade a spade because we know what is happening on ground.
23:46Even if people down in Bangladesh are very apprehensive about reporting facts
23:51because otherwise these radical Islamists would neutralize them.
23:55But Air Marshal Khosla, India would often war game
23:58and has war gamed a two and a half front situation.
24:02Now it seems there may well be, God forbid, a three and a half front situation,
24:07and especially with those illegal Bangladeshis also inside our country.
24:11And even if we were to leave those illegal Bangladeshis in India out for a moment,
24:16are we looking at tensions on three and a half fronts, sir?
24:20Yeah, I wouldn't call it three and a half front, Gaurav.
24:24Actually, I used to call it three front, taking the internal issues which we have,
24:30you know, insurgencies which we have in three areas.
24:33So that is the third front.
24:35But you're right, when we talk about two fronts,
24:38we take into account this Chinese strategy,
24:40which it uses of, you know, string of pearls and salami slicing.
24:45And third is the cabbage strategy.
24:47Cabbage strategy is, you know, the enemy, in layers you surround it,
24:53and then try to reinforce your views or your ideas onto the country.
24:59So these are the strategies you choose.
25:01And when we do war gaming and other things, we do take into these considerations.
25:06But it is definitely a challenge.
25:08And all the countries which are neighboring countries are slowly,
25:11slowly trying to experiment with China and trying to go with China,
25:15which is a nuisance for us.
25:17And obviously, it will become a challenge for us.
25:21You know, what are countermeasures that India must effectively put in place is something
25:25that perhaps we may not discuss in public domain,
25:28but has to be actioned as quickly as possible.
25:30Because Ambassador Sikri, what India should be very concerned about
25:34is those illegal Bangladeshis in our country,
25:36because they're not restricted to any one pocket
25:39or any one locality of, let's say, the Bengal-Bangladesh border
25:44or the Assam-Bangladesh border.
25:45They've percolated along the length and breadth of our country
25:49and, God forbid, could create trouble, the illegal Rohingyas did
25:53near the Sanjuan military airbase when there was a terror attack there in Jammu.
25:57Absolutely.
25:58This is really an internal threat caused by the persistent illegal immigration
26:04from Bangladesh over decades.
26:05And I think that we have to take much stronger action
26:08to push these illegal immigrants out.
26:10There has been some action initiated on this in Delhi and some other cities.
26:14We've seen in the 10s and 20s, people are being picked up and deported.
26:19But I do not know how strict this is,
26:20because very often they are deported.
26:21They come right back from the border when they're handed over to the BSF
26:25or then to be handed over to the BJP.
26:27So this, I think, needs a very, very strong action
26:30because this group of illegal immigrants in India
26:34is a fourth front for the Bangladeshis and the Pakistanis in India.
26:39I saw this in action when I was there,
26:42when Khardazia was the Prime Minister
26:44and Jamaat-e-Islami was in her political government as an alliance partner.
26:48And they were doing this at that time.
26:50They were coming in and creating sleeper cells in India
26:53and then activating the sleeper cells at their own will.
26:56And every terrorist attack in India at that time
26:59had a Bangladeshi footprint
27:00because it used to happen through Bangladesh.
27:02I think they're trying to repeat that pattern once again
27:05and it's a really a major internal threat
27:07which we have to tackle
27:09because it's like the underbelly of India.
27:12You know, it's a very weak spot that we have to tackle very carefully.
27:16Otherwise, it can prove very dangerous for us.
27:19There is the Rohingya threat also
27:21because with the Rohingya threat comes a drug smuggling threat,
27:23the Yabba tablets and so on,
27:25which are coming into India now in a much larger way
27:28in the north-eastern...
27:30You know, we'll have a detail, a longer discussion
27:33on this Air Marshal Khosla and Ambassador Sikri
27:36for joining me here on India Today.
27:37Many thanks.
27:38And this comes at a time
27:39when the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament said
27:42that West Bengal government is yet to allocate land
27:45for fencing of the India-Bangladesh border
27:48for either fencing or building border outposts.
27:50And this brings the situation
27:52when you have enemy virtually at the gates,
27:55the centre and the states have to be on the same page
27:58to tackle the threat that India faces
28:01and not just some state or some party.
28:04We'll track that story very closely.
28:06That's all I have for you on India First this evening.
28:08Many thanks for watching.