By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Senior officials of Bangladesh and India will meet in Dhaka on Monday after nearly 28 years to discuss the disputes over their common maritime boundary, said a senior official.
The official from Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Xinhua on Saturday that the meeting is taking place after New Delhi strongly opposed Dhaka’s move to select international oil and gas companies to explore hydrocarbon at the blocks close to India’s maritime territory.
“Our land territory has been demarcated after the war of independence. But we are yet to demarcate our sea territory with neighbors India and Myanmar, which is now creating a lot of disputes,” he said.
He said senior officials of the two countries will meet in Dhaka on Sept. 15-17 after nearly three decades.
Additional foreign secretary MAK Mahmud will lead Bangladesh side during the talks and the chief of Indian hydrography department is expected to lead Indian delegation.
The disputes arisen in February this year after Bangladesh invited bids from foreign companies for oil and gas search in the Bay of Bengal, after it divided the offshore territory into 28 exploration blocks.
In a letter to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, India protested Bangladesh bidding, saying the offshore blocks should not be awarded to the International Oil Companies without resolving international maritime boundary.
Special assistant to chief adviser of the Bangladesh caretaker government for energy and power M Tamim told Xinhua earlier that the dispute over maritime boundary with the neighbors would be resolved in line with relevant international law and bilateral deals.