B'desh asks Myanmar to stay off disputed waters

Dhaka, Nov 17 (PTI) The row between Bangladesh and
Myanmar is hotting up over lucrative hydrocarbon exploration
in the Bay of Bengal.

For the second time in the last ten days Bangladesh has
warned Myanmar in continuing exploration in overlapping claim
areas in the Bay of Bengal. The warning from Dhaka came as the
two countries resumed talks on Monday to reach a settlement
over the disputed maritime boundary.

"We asked them not to go for hydrocarbon exploration in
areas of overlapping claims until the dispute is settled," a
Bangladeshi official familiar with the meeting told reporters
as the second day talks began on Monday at the foreign office.

Additional foreign secretary M.A.K. Mahmood, who is
leading the Bangladesh side in the meeting, earlier said that
Yangon should restrict its survey and exploratory activities
to the east of 180 degree line claimed as Bangladesh's
territorial waters, until a final agreement between the two
countries on maritime delimitation is signed.

The two neighbours Sunday began the two-day crucial
talks on maritime disputes a week after the end of a military
standoff with mobilisation of warships in Bay of Bengal and
troops in their borders.

No tangible progress was made in the opening day's
expert-level talks as the two sides remained rigid on their
stance on the methodology to be used in delimitation, the
sources said.

Bangladesh prefers the maritime boundaries to be drawn on
the basis of "equity" while Myanmar argues for
"equal-distance" method.

"We sincerely believe whatever method or rule is applied
to maritime boundary delimitation, we have no scope to deviate
from the principle of equity and justice," Mahmood earlier
told newsmen referring to a verdict and proceedings of
international courts.

"Application of (Yangon-proposed) equidistant line as
a method for delimitation frustrates the very purpose of
maritime delimitation, that is, equitable result... according
to UNCLOS (United Nations Conventions of the Law of the Sea)
no method should dictate the result, rather the result would
justify the method," Mahmood said.

The talks are fourth of their kind on maritime issue,
which remained stalled for 22 years until the two countries
held their first round of discussion on March 30 this year in
Dhaka.

The foreign ministry last week said the "crisis in the
Bay of Bengal" ended with the withdrawal of a Yangon-engaged
South Korean exploration rig and Myanmar's warships from
areas of overlapping claims.

But reports from frontiers said both the countries
still kept an intensified vigil at the border as the two sides
began the talks in Dhaka.

The foreign ministry officials, however, said
Myanmar's intrusion into Bangladeshi waters was not on the
agenda of the ongoing meeting, rather it intended to focus on
setting a method of principles for delimitation.

The tension in the bay sparked after Yangon engaged
South Korean Daewoo for exploration in the disputed waters.

Foreign Secretary Mohammad Touhid Hossain went to
Yangon for talks while Dhaka simultaneously explored its
diplomatic channels engaging South Korea and China, a close
ally of Myanmar, to end the standoff.

Bangladesh has also disputes with India on territorial
waters while the two countries last month held a three-day
talk on the issue after a pause of 28 years.

The two countries agreed to hold talks in near future
to settle the dispute as they could not reach a consensus on
the mid-flow of the cross-boundary Hariabhanga River,
considered crucial for demarcation of maritime border. PTI AR
SAK