DHAKA, May 14: Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has once again sparked attention with a proposal involving India’s northeastern states, just months after referring to the region as “landlocked.”

During a meeting with the Deputy Speaker of Nepal’s House of Representatives, who is currently visiting Bangladesh, Yunus suggested a comprehensive economic integration plan encompassing Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Seven Sisters — the seven northeastern states of India.

“There should be an integrated economic plan for Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Seven Sisters,” Yunus said. “We have more to gain together than apart.”

The Chief Advisor emphasized the vast potential for cross-border collaboration in sectors such as hydropower, healthcare, and road connectivity. The discussion included a focus on strengthening hydropower cooperation between Bangladesh and Nepal. Both sides acknowledged the importance of the Bangladesh-Nepal-India Tripartite Power Sales Agreement signed last October, which allows the import of 40MW of hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh using India’s transmission network.

Yunus also highlighted Bangladesh’s regional role in healthcare. He noted that a forthcoming 1,000-bed hospital in Rangpur would be open to patients from Nepal and Bhutan, aiming to bolster “regional health security and shared prosperity.”

This latest proposal follows Yunus’s controversial remarks during his recent four-day visit to China, where he stated that the northeastern states of India were “landlocked” with “no way to reach out to the ocean,” positioning Bangladesh as the key maritime gateway for the region.

“The seven states of eastern India, known as the Seven Sisters, are a landlocked region. They have no direct access to the ocean,” Yunus had said. “We are the only guardian of the ocean for this entire region. This opens up a huge opportunity. It could become an extension of the Chinese economy — build things, produce things, market things, bring goods to China and export them to the rest of the world.”

Yunus also encouraged Beijing to expand its economic footprint in Bangladesh, describing the country as the “only guardian of the ocean” in the region.

His remarks have drawn criticism in India. Economist and member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal, questioned the logic of invoking India’s internal geography in an economic pitch to China. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sanyal wrote: “Interesting that Yunus is making a public appeal to the Chinese on the basis that 7 states in India are landlocked. China is welcome to invest in Bangladesh, but what exactly is the significance of 7 Indian states being landlocked?”