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Days after Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said India’s Northeast was “landlocked”, Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar has given a perfect reply now.

Talking about India’s Northeast, the minister said the region has become a connectivity hub for BIMSTEC with rail, road, water and pipeline networks. Jaishankar pointed out that the cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to “cherry-picking”. “Our North-Eastern region in particular is emerging as a connectivity hub for the BIMSTEC, with a myriad network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines,” he said.

Jaishankar’s remarks comes after Yunus, who was on a four-day visit to China recently, said India’s Northeast has “no way to reach out to the ocean” and claiming that Bangladesh in the “only guardian of the ocean” in the region.

Speaking at the 6th edition of BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand, Jaishankar said the Bay of Bengal littoral nations share common interests. “Some of it emanates from our history, where other priorities overrode the well-being of this region,” Jaishankar said.

Pointing out that New Delhi is aware of its responsibility to BIMSTEC, the minister said, “We, after all, have the longest coastline in the Bay of Bengal, of almost 6,500 km.”

India borders five of the BIMSTEC countries and even connects most of them besides providing an interface between the Indian sub-coninent and ASEAN, he said. Jaishankar went on to call the upcoming Trilateral Highway linking India’s Northeast to the Pacific Ocean a “veritable game changer”.

Yunus, during his China visit, inked nine deals with Beijin and even bagged a $2.1 billion package. He also invited Chinese investments in the Teesta Project and the Mongla Port, despite India’s reservations.