Bangladesh may forego UN arbitration with MyanmarThe recent Bangladesh-Myanmar sea border talks

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addressed a long-standing dispute that threatened 17 of Bangladesh's blocks in the Bay of Bengal. This may mean UN arbitration will no longer be needed to resolve the issue, foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said Saturday, reports bdnews24.com.
Briefing journalists at the foreign ministry, the secretary also said the government would still go ahead with UN arbitration for settling the sea border dispute with India.
Dhaka would also push to sign agreements with Delhi on sharing of all common rivers, including the Teesta, he said.
The secretary said Bangladesh and Myanmar during January 8-9 maritime boundary talks had emerged from a long deadlock over the demarcation procedure.
"Myanmar for the first time recognised the 'equity method' to demarcate the sea boundary. This is a very big development in the maritime talks," said Quayes.
He said Myanmar in the past had always pushed for the 'equidistance method' for delimiting the sea boundary.
The equidistance method would deprive Bangladesh of 17 out of 28 offshore blocks in and Bangladesh's sea zone would be locked.
The technical level meeting on January 8-9 in Chittagong agreed that Bangladesh and Myanmar would demarcate the common sea boundary through a combination of equity and equidistance methods.
"The agreement with Myanmar means Bangladesh no longer need worry about losing 17 blocks in the Bay of Bengal,"