The Indian Air Force (IAF) will hold a major military exercise close to the strategically important Siliguri corridor, which is the key, narrow land route to the northeastern states.
To meet the air force exercise objectives, the IAF has sought a Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) over the skies in India’s northeastern states between April 9 and 23, 2026.
“India issues a notification for an Indian Air Force exercise across its northeastern region bordering China, Bhutan & Myanmar…Date: 09-23 April 2026,” Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) expert Damien Symon posted on X.
The NOTAM covers airspace over India’s West Bengal and Assam to the entire northeastern states, including Arunachal Pradesh, touching borders with Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, as Damien Symon noted in a map accompanying the post.
However, further details of the exercise were not available at the time of writing this report.
The Indian Air Force had previously held its military exercise focusing on the Siliguri Corridor, also called the Chicken Neck, a strategically vulnerable narrow land corridor that connects India’s northeastern states with the rest of the nation.
In September 2025, the IAF issued a similar NOTAM for the northeastern region of India, covering Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, extending over airspace near Bhutan and Myanmar.
Then, the air exercise focused on a high-intensity operation to defend the Chicken Neck, a 22-km stretch in the northern part of West Bengal, which is closer both to Bangladesh in the southeast and China in the north.
The Indian Army too had conducted a military exercise for the defence of the Chicken Neck in November 2024.
These exercises came soon after Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammed Yunus, had talked about the Chicken Neck’s vulnerability during a visit to China in April 2025.
In January 2024, the IAF and the Indian Army conducted a joint military exercise, codenamed Devil Strike, close to the Chicken Neck.
This series of exercises by the Indian military indicates the seriousness with which the Indian government and the armed forces take the threats to the Chicken Neck and the northeastern states.