Bangladesh will give a verbal hearing at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas in Germany on September 18 for a 'legally equitable' resolution of its dispute with Myanmar over the maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal, a foreign ministry official told New Age.
Foreign minister Dipu Moni, who is also the 'agent' for Bangladesh with the ITLOS, would testify the country's position on the dispute with neighbouring Myanmar over the maritime boundary.
The ITLOS, which is composed of 21 judges from around the world, has invited Bangladesh for oral proceedings at its headquarter in Hamburg on September 18.
Additional foreign secretary M Khurshed Alam, who is 'deputy agent' for the country, would assist the minister in the proceedings.
In its reply filed with the ITLOS on March 14, Dhaka made an appeal for a 'legally equitable' resolution over Myanmar's claims concerning delimitation of maritime boundary between the two
countries, according to ITLOS.
The ITLOS is an inter-governmental judicial body created under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.
Bangladesh and Myanmar, on mutual consent, invited ITLOS in 2009 to exercise its jurisdiction over the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries.
Bangladesh submitted a 'memorial' on her claims in the Bay on July 1, 2010. Myanmar submitted a 'counter-memorial' on December 1, 2010.
The two countries, which had held prolonged negotiations over the dispute since 1974, so far failed to reach a settlement.
The ITLOS is expected to deliver its judgment in the case on dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the first quarter of 2012, its president Jose Luis Jesus said on June 13.
The ITLOS president described the case, which has been registered with the tribunal as 'Case No. 16' on disputes between Bangladesh and Myanmar as 'a milestone' for the tribunal since 'it is its first case on maritime delimitation'.
Foreign minister Dipu Moni, who is also the 'agent' for Bangladesh with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, would also give a verbal hearing at UN in New York on August 24 on the country's 'position paper' for demarcating the outer limits of the country's continental shelf.
On March 8, 2010, the ITLOS president also formed an arbitral tribunal to resolve the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India.
A country is supposed to enjoy its rights to fishing and exploring and extracting other marine resources in its 12–24 nautical miles of territorial sea from the coastline, 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone and a maximum 350 nautical miles of continental shelf from the baseline.
Bangladesh has, however, long-standing disputes with India and Myanmar on the issue of 'starting point' on how to mark the coastline to draw its marine boundary, with apparently overlapping claims of the three neighbouring countries because of the funnel-like coastline of the Bay of Bengal.
Under the UN provision, no claims submitted by a country should be taken for final consideration before settling the objection raised by a neighbouring country, which might have overlapping claims.
A well defined legal maritime boundary of Bangladesh would enable the country to undertake systematic programmes for exploiting and utilising its resources in the Bay, experts said.
Source : New Age
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