In a speech delivered in Tokyo, Mr Subhas Chandra Bose spoke about the activities of the INA and the fighting in Burma and said, “Recently, owing to unfavourable weather conditions and some other reasons we have had to withdraw temporarily in some sectors of the front. But, we are confident that when we resume the offensive we shall be able to beat our enemies once again and force them to retreat. In this connection I want to tell you that for some special reasons the fight on the Indo-Burma frontier will be a very bad one- in fact the hardest battle in the whole Indian campaign. The British have fortified the Indo-Burmese frontier and made it their Maginot Line. They know that when this Maginot Line is once broken, they will not be able to put up such a strong defence anywhere in India. The battle for Chittagong and Imphal will be much more than a local battle. It will be in essence and substance the battle of India. In other words, the future fate of India will be decided on the hills and in the jungles which bar the way to Chittagong and Imphal, and the effect of an advance into Bengal and Assam, on India as a whole, will be tremendous. The Indian people will then see with their own eyes the British running back and they will be convinced that the fall of the British Empire is imminent. Once the Indian people are convinced that the defeat bf the British is a certainty they will rise in revolt.”