By IANS,
Dhaka : Bangladesh and India have ended their first meeting in three decades on maritime boundary without making progress on pending issues, but officials insisted that it had been a useful meeting.
The two sides were unable to make headway in minimising differences over two thorny issues – sovereignty over South Talpatti island and their claim on exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the Bay of Bengal, media reports said Thursday.
Both Bangladesh and India claim the island that India calls Purbasha or New Moore Island.
Bangladesh and India have differences over the Hariabhanga river on their border. M.A.K. Mahmood, Bangladesh’s additional foreign secretary, said at the end of three-day talks Wednesday that the river’s mid-flow should be seen as the international border.
Asked if any progress was made in the talks, Mahmood said that a meeting took place after a gap of 28 years was itself a sign of progress.
The leader of the Indian team, Rear Admiral B.R. Rao, said that it was a technical meeting and more discussions would follow.
“We had a wonderful discussion. We discussed various options and methodologies (of delimitation of the maritime boundary),” he was quoted as saying by the New Age newspaper.
The Indian side claimed that the mid-stream of the Hariabhanga flowed on the eastern side of the Talpatti while Bangladesh claimed that it flows on the western side, said Mahmood, who led a 15-member Bangladesh team.
According to international conventions, if the mid-flow is determined to be on the eastern side, the South Talpatti Island will go to India. Bangladesh will get it if the mid-flow is determined to be on the western side.
Dhaka maintained that the mid-flow of the Hariabhanga is on the western side. The island is located at the estuary of the river.
Bangladesh placed all data and documents in support of their arguments and positions, said Mahmood, adding that so did the Indian side.
Bangladesh reiterated its former position on delimitation of the sea boundary, the same stand it held in 1980, the last time two countries held such a discussion.
In the absence of a recognized EEZ, India and Myanmar opposed Bangladesh’s offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas even within the territorial waters of the country.
All three have been engaged in off-shore operations in quest for oil and gas, which has underlined the need for demarcation of maritime boundaries.
The issue of continental shelves in the Bay also came up during the staggered discussions. The UN Convention on Law of the Sea allows each country to claim 350 nautical miles as its continental shelf.
As signatories to the UN convention, Dhaka must submit its claim to its maritime boundary by July 27, 2011 to the UN and New Delhi by June 29, 2009 to resolve the dispute.