Bangla-Myanmar tension defusing?
We note with some sense of relief that Myanmar government has acceded to Bangladesh government protest and withdrawn its naval vessels from Bangladesh's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). We also read a positive sign in that the exploration rigs from the area have also been withdrawn.
That said, the situation, we are constrained to say, is not yet normal since our border security forces are on 'red alert' having to face an unprovoked build up of Myanmar forces along Bangla-Myanmar border.
The situation was originally compounded by Myanmar's precipitate plans to conduct oil and gas exploration in an area in the Bay of Bengal which is within Bangladesh's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
It is a matter of regret that the maritime issue, in a manner of speaking, had spilled on to the land border between the two countries when Myanmar government decided to reinforce its border forces facing Bangladesh. This posture of Myanmar was very much unexpected and the tension this move created should have been avoided.
We would like to reiterate that Bangladesh has made its position very clear regarding the Myanmar move to conduct exploration into our territorial waters. We want to resolve the dispute in a spirit of mutual understanding and consultation. The fact that a high level delegation led by the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh paid a visit to Myanmar to discuss the situation only goes to demonstrate our trust in diplomatic efforts for trouble shooting.
There are well-tested ways of resolving bilateral differences through diplomatic channels, but trying to force into territorial waters belonging to a neighbour is certainly not the way to go about it. It also seems quite extraordinary that the government of Myanmar would resort to such a means when technical teams from the two countries were due to meet in the latter part of this month, to address the issue of delimitation.
We suggest that the only way to address disputes between neighbours is through discussion. Any other mechanism that deviates from the peaceful means of resolving differences is antithetical to standard norms of behaviour.
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