Myanmar trying to grab Bangladesh territory in Bay of Bengal

There is an attempt from Myanmar to grab a large piece of area in the Bay of Bengal, which lawfully belongs to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has already registered its protest against the attempt of Myanmar.

“We came to know about the attempt and immediately we took action and protested it,” said a senior official of the Foreign Ministry.

He said Myanmar in July submitted a petition to the UN claiming a certain portion of the sea, which belongs to Bangladesh and India.

“We submitted counter petitions and urged the UN to reject the Myanmar claim,” he said.

Myanmar claim on continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal is not aligned with the verdicts of the international courts, which resolved boundary disputes between Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.

Bangladesh filed cases with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to resolve maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar and with Arbitral Tribunal to resolve maritime boundary dispute with India.

“Both the courts stipulated how much area Bangladesh, Myanmar and India will get,” the official said.

Nobody can claim beyond the award given by the courts, he said adding: “Myanmar has crossed the line and claimed which lawfully belonged to Bangladesh and India.”

Myanmar submitted its first claim on the continental shelf with the UN in 2008 and Bangladesh objected it. (Courtesy of Dhaka Tribune)

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