By IANS,
Dhaka : With disputes over allocation of off-shore territories for oil and gas exploration piling up, Bangladesh and India Monday resumed talks on their maritime boundary in the energy-rich Bay of Bengal after a gap of 28 years.
Officials and experts began three-day parleys here. The last meeting was in 1982 and had ended after preliminary talks, The Daily Star reported.
Bangladesh shares the bay with India and Myanmar but has not demarcated the sea territory with them, which is creating disputes mainly over offshore search of oil and gas. None of the countries have yet claimed their marine boundaries in the UN.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in a statement Sunday: “The technical level talks are taking place after 28 years. We believe today both the governments are now deeply committed to strengthening their relations through resolutions of all outstanding issues.”
Back in June, New Delhi and Yangon strongly opposed Bangladesh’s offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas. Previously, Dhaka raised objections when India and Myanmar floated an international tender for searching offshore in 2006, accusing them of overlapping Bangladesh territory but did not get any reply from India.
A seven-member team led by Indian Rear Admiral B.R. Rao and the Bangladesh delegation led by additional foreign secretary M.A.K. Mahmud will discuss different technical issues.
A Bangladeshi official source said Dhaka would insist on the determination of the staring point, which is crucial for registering with the UN a valid claim on common territories. It will emphasise a joint inspection for the delimitation of maritime boundary.
The Bay of Bengal has become very important, especially after India’s discovery of 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf) gas in 2005-06 and Myanmar’s discovery of 7 tcf gas at the same time. Besides, India also discovered two billion barrels of oil.
The bay in Bangladesh’s territory, which has not been tapped at all, promises huge natural resources, experts say. In 2006, sedimentary rock oolite was discovered, which promises oil and gas.
“Without a win-win negotiation, Bangladesh might not be able to tap its own resources in future while our neighbours might get to enjoy it all as they have made good progress in their demarcation jobs,” The Daily Star quoted an unnamed energy expert as saying.
India and Myanmar need to finish the maritime demarcation with Bangladesh shortly as they are set to file their claims to the UN on June 29 and May 21 next year respectively.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Bangladesh also has to file its claim within July 27, 2011.
Bangladesh is yet to make any progress in preparing its papers with proper boundary survey due to lack of experience, skilled manpower and equipment. The government is planning to take help from the US, Britain and Australia, sources in the foreign ministry said.
In 2004, the foreign ministry formed a committee with members from Petrobangla, Geological Survey of Bangladesh, the Navy, Spaarso, Inland Water Transport Authority and Surveyor of Bangladesh. The purpose of this committee was to recommend how to mark the deep-sea territory fulfilling requirements of the UN and as per the law of the sea. However, the committee became dysfunctional within a year.
International law allows each country to have 200 nautical miles from its coast to the sea to enjoy rights. However, this is a tricky matter as the coasts of India and 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 exploring such areas.
Earlier, Bangladesh foreign ministry officials held two rounds of talks in April and September with Myanmar and the discussions yielded “good results” regarding common usage of the Naf river and estuary, official sources said.
But progress in resolving the sea boundary is still far to go as Myanmar is asking for eco-distance system in the East to West boundary, while Bangladesh is asking to demarcate in equity basis North to South.
Another round of talks may take place with Myanmar next November.
Oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal is a very recent phenomenon. Both India and Myanmar discovered gas in the bay between 2005 and 2007. India has held off-shore block bids and has many oil companies working in the Bay.
In Bangladesh on May 7, seven oil and gas companies submitted their bids in 15 offshore blocks out of 28. The response was lukewarm.