Cabinet directs speedy tapping of marine resources from bay

Buoyed by successive two dispute resolutions over the country's territorial waters through international arbitration, the cabinet gave directives Monday to the ministries and departments concerned to kick-start combined efforts for tapping marine resources from the large swathe of the Bay of Bengal.
The drive was set in motion close on the heels of the country's latest gain of sovereign right to the sea through the verdict of an international tribunal on the dispute put up by India over 25,602 square kilometres of the Bay.   
"The cabinet gave directive to the ministries of energy, power and mineral resources and fisheries and livestock and other departments concerned to make highest effort for extracting marine resources from the Bay of Bengal," Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media after regular weekly meeting of the cabinet.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting held in the cabinet division of Bangladesh Secretariat.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting at the cabinet division of Bangladesh Secretariat on the day.
The cabinet meeting also adopted a thanksgiving motion on the maritime boundary verdict over India and congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the individuals and authorities concerned.
He said the cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal from the ministry of foreign affairs to publish a gazette notification highlighting "the huge gains" through the arbitral tribunal verdict. It is a successive second triumph on the seafront after the previous verdict on a similar dispute raised by Myanmar with claim to another vast part of the sea.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inform the nation in detail about the maritime boundary verdict.
"The Prime Minister is likely to hold a press conference over the recent Arbitral Tribunal verdict over India where she would give details about the matter," he said.
He said the country benefited from the verdict as it affirmed Bangladesh's just rights based on principle of equity instead of equidistance plea made by the disputant.
Bangladesh won its maritime litigation with India as the Hague-based international arbitral tribunal delivered on July 07 its verdict awarding Bangladesh 19,467-square- kilometre area out of the disputed 25,602 sqkms in the Bay.
Following the verdict, Bangladesh has finally won more than 118,813 square kilometres of waters comprising territorial sea and exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles across sizable area.
The country also attains 'undeniable' sovereign rights in the seabed extending as far as 354 nautical miles (NM) from Chittagong coast in the Bay of Bengal with all the living and non-living resources.
The award by the tribunal, which cannot be challenged through appeal, is binding on both states. The verdict brings to an end the arbitral process that was commenced by Bangladesh in respect of Myanmar and India under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2009.
The previous victory for Bangladesh came on 14 March 2012 when the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Homburg delivered the judgment in the maritime boundary case with Myanmar.
The cabinet endorsed in principle the draft 'Bangladesh Railway Board (annulment) Act 2014', meant for a change in the administration of the sector. It also approved the amended draft on cultural cooperation agreement between Bangladesh and Azerbaijan.
The cabinet condemned the Israeli attacks and killing of Palestinian people in Gaza. It called upon the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop such carnage.
It (cabinet) was also apprised of the Jatiya Sangsad Speaker's participation in the oath-taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and foreign minister's participation in the 41st Islamic Cooperation Council meeting in Jeddah June 18-19.