Feature

Seminar@CU on Delimitation of
Bangladesh Maritime Boundaries

Tabassum Mokhduma

THE Faculty of Law, University of Chittagong (CU) organized a seminar on October 6, 2009 titled “The Problem of Delimitation of Bangladesh Maritime Boundaries with India and Myanmar” at the auditorium of Social Science Faculty of CU.

Professor Dr Abu Yusuf, Vice Chancellor, CU was present as the chief guest at the seminar chaired by Professor Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Dean of Faculty of Law, CU which was organised under a project financed by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The keynote paper of the seminar was prepared jointly by Project Coordinator Professor Dr M Shah Alam, former Dean of the Faculty, presently Member, Bangladesh Law Commission and Dr Abdullah Al Faruque, Chairman, Department of Law, CU while Dr Faruque and Commander Yadul Islam of Bangladesh Navy, a research student of the department presented the findings of the research.

Other notables present were Dr Jamal Nazrul Islam, Professor Emeritus, CU; Commodore M Khurshid Alam, Additional Secretary to Foreign Ministry; MM Rajib, Commodore Commanding, Chittagong, Bangladesh Navy; Commandant ATGM Sarkar, Marine Fisheries Academy; Commander MNG Muktadir, Director, Hydrographic and Oceanographic Centre; Dr Mohammad Rashed-Un-Nabi, Director, CU Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries.

The object behind the research was to look into the possible solution to end the disputes regarding the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh with its two neighbouring countries India and Myanmar. Both India and Myanmar are demanding equidistance principle for demarcation, while Bangladesh is seeking to resolve disputes on the basis of equitable principle. For a long time there lies an unsettled dispute among the three countries regarding the delimitation of the maritime boundaries as drawing maritime boundary on the basis of equidistance principle will result in seizure of much of our sea area by India and Myanmar.

In their presentation, Dr Faruque and Commander Yadul said Bay of Bengal has huge living and non-living resources. They observed that India and Myanmar discovered 100 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and seven TCF gas respectively inside their respective water territories, while Bangladesh could not conduct exploration due to demarcation problems. Though with the introduction of the Law of the Sea Convention in 1982 Bangladesh has got a unique opportunity to exploit a vast area beyond its coastal waters as the Convention provides a framework, detailed provisions and principles for demarcation of maritime boundaries and international cooperation on exploration of both living and non-living marine resources, still Bangladesh could not do so because of the disputes with its neighbours regarding delimitation of its maritime boundaries. If the maritime boundaries are delimited under the Convention of 1982, they said that the total sea area of Bangladesh would be 1.4 times greater than its total land area. They also added that exploration of oil and gas is essential for ensuring the country's economic security as well as its overall development.

As the sea areas of Bangladesh are rich in hydrocarbon and mineral deposits, the speakers stressed the need for bilateral negotiations for a maritime agreement for stable solution to delimitation problems of the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. They recommended that the maritime zones should clearly be established for protection, conservation and cogent exploitation of marine resources to speed up the country's economic development.

They also observed that temporary measures such as joint development agreements and judicial means of settlement could also serve as the way out to the maritime boundary delimitation problems.

Even though Bangladesh is a geographically disadvantaged country and is heavily dependent on the sea, but due to the conflicting claims by its neighbours it could not realize its claims over various maritime zones. Back in 1974, Bangladesh showed interest in the preservation, exploration and exploitation of natural resources, and took a major initiative and designated its maritime zones through the Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act of 1974, being the first South Asian country to enact a law for the purpose.

But on a very disappointing note, the successive governments of Bangladesh did not take any significant steps for the resolution of problems of delimitation of its maritime zones. The country finally woke up in 2008, when four drilling ships from Myanmar started exploration for oil and gas reserves within 50 nautical miles south west of St. Martin's Island in Bangladesh. Myanmar's unilateral action to explore for hydrocarbons in the disputed territorial waters is a clear violation of the Convention.

The speakers further said that Bangladesh needs to modify 1974 act in order to make it consistent with the Convention of 1982 and the problems of maritime delimitation should be resolved in accordance with the principles laid down in the Convention and customary international law.

India and Myanmar have already filed their claims to the United Nations and Bangladesh has to file the claim by August 27, 2011 and a high-end committee is working on it.