By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Bangladesh will send its foreign secretary Touhid Hossain as special envoy to Yangon on Wednesday to lodge Dhaka’s protest against the presence of Myanmar vessels within Bangladesh’s maritime zone, a top official said.
Foreign Advisor of the Bangladesh caretaker government Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury summoned Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka U Phae Thann Oo at the Foreign Ministry Monday afternoon and conveyed the government’s decision.
“We’re sending the special envoy to lodge our protest so the situation does not go beyond control…We’re sending him to protect our interest,” he told reporters after the meeting with the Myanmar ambassador.
The Myanmar ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry twice within 24 hours to convey the protest.
Iftekhar said several Myanmar vessels intruded into Bangladesh’s territorial water for exploration near deep sea bloc 8-13 claimed by Bangladesh. But Myanmar claims they are within their territorial water.
He said all steps would be taken to protect the sovereignty and territory of Bangladesh. “We want to put an end to this situation forthwith. We want to resolve the matter diplomatically,” he said.
The advisor said that Bangladesh is a peace-loving nation and “We don’t want to go for any confrontation as Myanmar is our friendly neighbor,” he said.
He said Bangladesh and Myanmar will hold talks here on delimitation of boundaries between the two countries on Dec. 16-17.
On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary called the Myanamr Ambassador U Phae Thann Oo to lodge the protest.
The ambassador was asked to convey to his government Bangladesh’ s request to immediately suspend all activities within the declared maritime zones of Bangladesh in accordance with the Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act 1974 of Bangladesh.