WITH the introduction of the Law of the Sea Convention in 1982, Bangladesh has got a unique opportunity to exploit a vast area beyond its coastal waters. The Convention pro videsa framework, detailed provisions and principles for demarcation of maritime boundaries and international cooperation on exploration of both living and nonliving marine resources.

India and Myanmar, two bordering countries of Bangladesh, arc demanding equidistance principle for demarcation, while Bangladesh is seeking to resolve disputes on the basis of equitable principle. Drawing maritime boundary on the basis of equidistance principle will result in annexation of much of our sea area by India and Myanmar. As a matter of fact, for a long time there lies an unsettled dispute between the three countries regarding the delimitation of the maritime boundaries.

To look into the problem deeply and finding solution before it is too late, the Faculty of Law, University of Chittagong (CU) organized a seminar on October 6, 2009 titled "The Problem of Delimitation of Bangladesh Maritime Boundaries with India and Myanmar" at the auditorium of Social Science Faculty of CU.

CU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Abu Yusuf was present as the chief guest at the seminar chaired by Professor Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Dean of Faculty of Law, CU which was organised under a project financed by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The keynote paper of the seminar was prepared jointly by Project Coordinator Professor Dr M Shah Alam. Member. Bangladesh Law Commission and former Dean of the faculty and Dr Abdullah Al Faruque, Chairman. Department of Law, CU while the findings of the research was presented by Dr Faruque and Commander Yadul Islam of Bangladesh Navy, a research student of the department.

CU Professor Emeritus Dr Jamal Nazrul Islam, Additional Secretary to Foreign Ministry Commodore M Khurshid Alam, Bangladesh Navy Commodore Commanding, Chittagong MM Rajib, Marine Fisheries Academy Commandant ATGM Sarkar. Hydrographic and Oceanographic Centre Director Commander MNG Muktadir, CU Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries Director Dr Mohammad Rashed-Un-Nabi also spoke at the seminar.

As the sea areas of Bangladesh are rich in hydrocarbon and mineral deposits, the speakers emphasised the need for bilateral negotiations for a maritime agreement for permanent solution to delimitation problems of the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. They urged that the maritime zones should clearly be established for protection, conservation and cogent exploitation of marine resources to speed up the country's economic development. They also observed that interim measures such as joint development agreements and judicial means of settlement could also serve as the way out to the maritime boundary delimitation problems.

Bangladesh, being a geographically disadvantaged country, is heavily dependent on the sea. But due to the conflicting claim by its neighbours, it could not realize its claims over various maritime zones. After independence, Bangladesh took a major initiative and designated its maritime zones through the Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act of 1974. Bangladesh showed interest in the preservation, exploration and exploitation of natural resources, and was the first South Asian country to enact a law for the purpose. But apart from enactment of this Act, the successive governments of Bangladesh did not take any significant steps for the resolution of problems of delimitation of its maritime zones. The issue of delimitation of maritime zones came into vanguard when on November 1, 2008 four drilling ships from Myanmar started exploration for oil and gas reserves within 50 nautical miles south west of St. Martins Island in Bangladesh. Myanmar's unilateral action to explore hydrocarbons in the disputed territorial waters is a clear violation of the Convention. Earlier Bangladesh raised objections when India and

Myanmar floated international tender for searching offshore in 2006 accusing them of overlapping Bangladesh territory.

In their presentation, Dr Abdullah and Commander Yadul said Bay of Bengal has huge living and non-living resources. They observed that India and Myanmar discovered 100 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and seven TCF gas respectively inside their respective water territories, while Bangladesh could not conduct exploration due to demarcation problems.

If the maritime boundaries are delimited under the Convention of 1982, they said that the total sea area of Bangladesh would be 2,07,000 square kilometres which is 1.4 times greater titan its total land area. They also added that exploration of oil and gas is essen -tial for ensuring the country's economic security as well as its overall development

India and Myanmar have already filed their claims to the United Nations and Bangladesh has to file the claim by August 27, 2011 and a high-capacity committee is working on it.

They further said that Bangladesh needs to modify 1974 Act in order to make it consistent with the Convention of 1982 that provides legal framework and principles of maritime delimitation. Since all three countries have ratified the Convention, the problems of maritime delimitation should be resolved in accordance with the principles laid down in the Convention and customary international law.

The writer is a student of LLM, Department of Law, Chittagong University