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Chabua: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that Assam will “automatically be included” in Bangladesh if the number of people from the neighbouring country residing in the northeastern state increased by another 10 percent.

Sarma, speaking to reporters after an official event here, said he has been raising this issue for the last five years.

“In Assam, 40 percent of the population are Bangladeshi-origin people. If it increases 10 percent more, we will automatically be included,” he said when asked on a reported comment by a leader in Bangladesh about merging the northeast with the neighbouring nation.

“That is why I have been shouting (about the issue) for the last five years,” he added.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh’s newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Hasnat Abdullah reportedly said that Dhaka should “isolate” India’s northeastern states, and extend support to separatist elements in the region if New Delhi attempted to destabilise his country.

Abdullah claimed that the northeastern states were geographically “vulnerable” as they were dependent on the narrow ‘Siliguri Corridor’, also called the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, for connectivity with the Indian mainland.