Maritime talks with Myanmar begins today
The technical committee-level talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar on maritime delimitation begins today with a view to adopt a method of demarcation.
Sources said during the talks Bangladesh will press for demarcating maritime boundary between the two nations on the basis of equity. Myanmar however had earlier argued for an 'equal-distance method' of delimitation.
Tension between the two neighbouring nations mounted early this month after Myanmarese warships and oil and gas exploration rigs intruded into Bangladesh waters in the Bay of Bengal.
"Myanmar's trespass on Bangladesh waters is not on our agenda. We shall focus on setting a method of principles for delimitation. If we reach a consensus over the issue the tension will ease automatically," said Deputy Secretary of foreign ministry MAK Mahmud who will lead the Bangladesh team.
He also said the equal-distance method is applicable for two countries facing each other. But it is not applicable for adjoining countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Bangladesh claims its maritime boundary at 92 degrees 17 minutes 30 seconds East longitude as per the Territorial and Maritime Zones Act 1974. Bangladesh Navy warned the Myanmarese warships and exploration rig earlier this month when they crossed the line.
"That is our maritime boundary and will remain so until something new comes up," said a member of Bangladesh delegation.
An 11-member expert team led by Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myinter from Myanmar arrived in the capital yesterday.
The technical committee-level talks between the two countries on maritime boundary, which remained stalled for 22 years, began on March 30 this year in Dhaka.
Later, Bangladesh technical committee went to Yangon in September for holding second round talks. This is the third time the technical committees of the two countries will sit today for talks at the conference hall of the foreign ministry.
The maritime boundary between Bangladesh and its two neighbouring nations India and Myanmar is yet to be demarcated resulting in disputes between the three countries over oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal.
However, none of the three countries has approached the United Nations to settle the issue.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Bangladesh has to file its claim within July 27, 2011 while India and Myanmar have to finish the maritime demarcation with Bangladesh soon as they need to file their claims with the UN within June 29 and May 21, 2009 respectively.
The coasts of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar follow a curve, which implies overlapping of territory. As per international practices, in such a case, the neighbours should inform each other and reach a mutual understanding before conducting exploration in such grey areas.
On the contrary, the Myanmarese ships started oil and gas exploration in Bangladesh territory marked as deep-sea blocks 8-13 early this month ignoring Bangladesh Navy warnings.
Tension between the two neighbouring nations eased after Myanmar withdrew its warships and exploration rig from the area.
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