No Indo-Bangla talks yet on disputed gas blocks
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
FE Report
Bangladesh and India are yet to initiate talks over the disputed offshore gas blocks as the second day of the three-day bilateral meeting mainly focused on settling an agreed point to determine the maritime boundary, officials said.
"Until Tuesday both the countries were discussing to settle an agreed point from which the maritime boundary would be determined," a senior foreign ministry official said on the close of second day's meeting Tuesday.
He, however, said: "It is now clear that neither India nor Bangladesh intended to encroach into each others territorial waters illegally."
But he admitted that neither of the parties until Tuesday have discussed the issue of overlapping of gas blocks by each other.
According to UK-based prestigious global firm Wood Mackenzie a total of five Bangladesh offshore gas blocks have been wholly or partly licensed by India.
The firm stated that to the west, part of Bangladesh block SS-08-05 was licensed by India (as block NEC-DWN-2004/2) to Santos in 2007.
The Indian block overlaps Bangladeshi third round blocks SS-08-09 and SS-08-14, it pointed out.
Further south, another Santos block, NEC-DWN-2004/1, overlaps Bangladeshi blocks DS-08-14, DS-08-19 and DS-08-24, Wood Mackenzie revealed.
Pointing to the demarcation law the official said as per the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) the coastal countries can rightfully claim 200 nautical miles of the sea measured from the coast.
But as the coastal countries of the Bay of Bengal including India and Bangladesh follow a curve it has become tricky to determine the boundary.
There are, however, global instances of settling such disputes through mutual understandings where the maritime demarcation becomes difficult to ascertain in line with the conventional clauses, said sources.
A number of Asian countries including Vietnam, China, Japan and Thailand settled similar disputes through negotiations with their counterparts.
During the last two-day meeting Bangladesh proposed that the determining point should be on the western side of the Hariabhanga River, while India is arguing for eastern side, said an official attending the meeting.
Bangladesh and India are in talks to determine their maritime boundary in the oil and gas rich Bay of Bengal after 28 years.
Rear admiral BR Rao is leading the Indian delegation, while additional secretary of the foreign ministry MAK Mahmood is leading the Bangladesh team.
Both India and Bangladesh are the signatories to the UNCLOS and as per their commitments India will have to lodge its claim over the maritime boundary by June 2009, while Bangladesh will have to file its claim by July 2011.
Bangladesh and India are yet to initiate talks over the disputed offshore gas blocks as the second day of the three-day bilateral meeting mainly focused on settling an agreed point to determine the maritime boundary, officials said.
"Until Tuesday both the countries were discussing to settle an agreed point from which the maritime boundary would be determined," a senior foreign ministry official said on the close of second day's meeting Tuesday.
He, however, said: "It is now clear that neither India nor Bangladesh intended to encroach into each others territorial waters illegally."
But he admitted that neither of the parties until Tuesday have discussed the issue of overlapping of gas blocks by each other.
According to UK-based prestigious global firm Wood Mackenzie a total of five Bangladesh offshore gas blocks have been wholly or partly licensed by India.
The firm stated that to the west, part of Bangladesh block SS-08-05 was licensed by India (as block NEC-DWN-2004/2) to Santos in 2007.
The Indian block overlaps Bangladeshi third round blocks SS-08-09 and SS-08-14, it pointed out.
Further south, another Santos block, NEC-DWN-2004/1, overlaps Bangladeshi blocks DS-08-14, DS-08-19 and DS-08-24, Wood Mackenzie revealed.
Pointing to the demarcation law the official said as per the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) the coastal countries can rightfully claim 200 nautical miles of the sea measured from the coast.
But as the coastal countries of the Bay of Bengal including India and Bangladesh follow a curve it has become tricky to determine the boundary.
There are, however, global instances of settling such disputes through mutual understandings where the maritime demarcation becomes difficult to ascertain in line with the conventional clauses, said sources.
A number of Asian countries including Vietnam, China, Japan and Thailand settled similar disputes through negotiations with their counterparts.
During the last two-day meeting Bangladesh proposed that the determining point should be on the western side of the Hariabhanga River, while India is arguing for eastern side, said an official attending the meeting.
Bangladesh and India are in talks to determine their maritime boundary in the oil and gas rich Bay of Bengal after 28 years.
Rear admiral BR Rao is leading the Indian delegation, while additional secretary of the foreign ministry MAK Mahmood is leading the Bangladesh team.
Both India and Bangladesh are the signatories to the UNCLOS and as per their commitments India will have to lodge its claim over the maritime boundary by June 2009, while Bangladesh will have to file its claim by July 2011.