BD claim over its sea territory is not illegal: Dipu Moni Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni has said country's claim over its sea territory is not illegal and maritime dispute will be resolved without annihilating national interest and good relations with other claimant states.At a seminar tiled "Maritime Security of Bangladesh" at Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) on Thursday, she said "Bangladesh is not claiming sea territory illegally as this right has been given by international law. The chaos arising out of maritime delimitation will be resolved in such a way whereby even a small particle of national interest and good relation with neighbouring countries will not be affected." About importance of maritime delimitation, she said this is significant due to the reason that there is shortage of resources in Bangladesh and neighbouring states and the seabed is pregnant with huge mineral resources and energies. Terming BD a peaceful country, the FM said, "As our country is a peaceful country, we would like to maintain good relation with neighbouring states. But it does not mean that we will slip over our rights. So whenever a problem arose, we took initiatives to solve it." She underlined the need for submitting papers by Bangladesh to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) claiming continental shelf of 350 nautical miles in the bay within 2011 because Myanmar has already submitted while India will submit in May, 2009.Foreign Minister said "For submitting claim over continental shelf by 2011, we are getting ready and preparing documents and papers based on scientific survey." Replying to a query as to whether the country will seek US support in this regard, she said "We are yet to get US proposal formally. If we get formal proposal, we will consider it subject to protection of national security." About gas exploitation in sea blocks, she said "We will also do so by bilateral dialogue and negotiation with the neighbouring states," she added. In a query whether present strength of NAVY is enough for coastal security, she said "We will reconsider and scrutinise the issue and we will leave no stone unturned to protect the interest of our country." She said the sea dispute is as old as the sea itself and the country will go to International Court of Justice for arbitration if maritime dispute is not resolved through dialogue or CLCS. Commodore Khurshid Alam (retd) said out of 29 blocks of Bangladesh, 10 is being claimed by India and 9 by Myanmar. Had the maritime boundary been delimitated in 80's, neighbouring countries would have not been able to claim those. Anyway, we will have to resolve this issue on an urgent basis." He said continental shelf of 350 nautical miles is measured on the baseline in addition to socio-economic condition of a coastal state. "As our socio-economic condition is worse than that of neighbouring countries, those countries cannot deprive us of our share of the continental shelf," he added.Commodore Moqsumul Quader, DG, Bangladesh Coast Guard, said there is traditional and non-traditional threat to state security and economic security arising out of maritime dispute. Terming sea as frontier of all frontier, he underlined the need for political awareness among people about maritime spaces and exploration of natural resources therein. http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/leading%...#lead%20news-01 |
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