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Continental Shelf

Dhaka prepares for legal battle

Rezaul Karim
The verdict of a tribunal on Tuesday ended the maritime dispute between Bangladesh and India, but Bangladesh will face legal battles with India and Myanmar over the limits of the continental shelf in the Bay.
Bangladesh claimed 400-460 nautical miles from the coast to establish its right over the undersea natural resources within the area. It objected to India's and Myanmar's claims on the continental shelf.
Dhaka will have to prove that its claim is genuine, and counter India's and Myanmar's claims over the continental shelf.
The date for the beginning of the legal battle is yet to be fixed as there are over 50 countries that submitted their claims before Bangladesh. Officials expect that the settlement over the continental shelf might be in 2019.
The continental shelf is an undersea extension of a continent which can stretch for many miles out to sea. Many nations have asserted mineral and land rights to their associated continental shelves since these are rich in natural resources.
The UN will fix the area of continen-
tal shelf of its member states, even though the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (1TLOS) on March 14, 2012, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration on Tuesday in their verdicts sustained Bangladesh's claim of a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and a substantial share of the extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
Bangladesh submitted scientific and technical data (seismic and bathymetric) to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on February 25, 2011. It is the 55th nation to do so.
Talking to The Daily Star, an official
of the foreign ministry said Dhaka formally objected to Delhi's submission on May 11,2009. "We dispute the Indian claims on areas of outer continental shelf since these are part of the natural prolongation of Bangladesh."
India is the 48th country to make its claim and Myanmar submitted its claim as the 16th nation.
Bangladesh also made a presentation before the commission on its claims two years ago.
The commission, after examining the data submitted by Bangladesh, will make recommendations on what to do about Bangladesh's claims on the continental shelf. It will take a few
more years to settle the issue.
Dhaka had consulted the Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) of Germany, GRID -Arendal of Norway, Centre for Coastal and Ocean Mapping of the University of New Hampshire, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, USA.
The Commonwealth Secretariat provided legal and technical assistance in the final documentation of Bangladesh's submission. Dhaka also received advisory assistance from Herald Brekke, a member of the UN body CLCS.