Verdict on maritime dispute with India likely on July 2

FE Report | Published: June 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

An international tribunal at the Hague is expected to deliver its verdict on the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India on July 2, agencies quoting Bangladesh Navy sources said Monday.
Navy chief Vice-Admiral M Farid Habib gave such indication at the 'Summer President Parade-2014' programme of the newly commissioned navy officers at Chittagong Naval Academy on the day.
The Navy chief said Bangladesh had already won the legal battle over maritime boundary with Myanmar and "established rights on a vast area of waters in the Bay. So it is the responsibility of the Navy to safeguard the reclaimed area and its resources".
Earlier, Bangladesh won a landmark verdict against Myanmar on March 14, 2012 at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and through the verdict the country established its claim to 200 nautical miles and exclusive economic and territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal.
A senior Bangladesh Navy official told bdnews24.com that the hearings ended in Dec last year when both sides argued their case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Netherlands capital.
The arguments focused on issues like the location of the land-boundary terminus, the delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles.
Bangladesh went for arbitration over the delimitation of the maritime boundary under the United Nations Convention on Law of Sea (UNCLOS) on Oct 8, 2009.
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, former foreign minister Dipu Moni, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Secretary for Maritime Affairs Mohammad Khurshed Alam spoke at the last hearing in Dec, the foreign ministry earlier said.
Attorney-General Goolam Vahanvati led the Indian side.
Lawrence Martin, Professor Philippe Sands, Professor Payam Akhavan, Paul Reichler, Professor Alan Boyle, and Professor James Crawford argued for Bangladesh, according to the foreign ministry.
R K P Shankardass, Professor Alain Pellet, Professor Michael Reisman, and Sir Michael Wood KCMG argued on behalf of India.
Judge Rüdiger Wolfrum from Germany is the President of the Arbitration tribunal while Judge Jean-Pierre Cot from France, Judge Thomas A Mensah from Ghana and Dr Pemmaraju Sreenivasa were the other members.