Dhaka asks Yangon to stop exploration in disputed waters (Roundup)

Dhaka - Dhaka on Sunday asked Yangon to stop off-shore oil and gas exploration in the disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal until an agreement on demarcation of maritime boundary is signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar, officials said. Bangladesh's request came on the first day of two-day technical- level talks on the maritime boundary between the two neighbours, which passed a tensed week earlier this month over hydrocarbon exploration in the bay. 'Myanmar should restrict its survey and exploratory activities to the east of the 180 degree line claimed as Bangladesh's territorial waters in the bay until a final agreement between the two countries on maritime delimitation is signed,' Bangladesh's Additional Foreign Secretary M A K Mahmood told reporters after the first day of meeting. Mahmood and Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Moyint led their respective delegations at the talks. The two sides discussed the method of marking the starting point of the sea boundary and related international laws at the meeting. Mahmood termed the recent escalation of events in the bay was a result of misunderstanding by the Myanmar authorities. 'We would like to clarify that our maritime zone as declared in 1974 along the 092 degree, 17 minute, 30 second line (commonly referred to as 180 degree line) is the line we are bound to follow until a final delimitation is attained between the two states on the basis of equity principle,' he said. No one from the Myanmar side briefed the media over the outcome of the talks. The dialogue was arranged against the backdrop of movement of warships in the Bay of Bengal by both the countries after Myanmar's alleged intrusion into Bangladesh's territorial waters for oil and gas exploration. The two countries met in April to discuss the maritime demarcation issue after a break of more than two decades and agreed that neither would begin exploration in the disputed areas of the mineral-rich Bay of Bengal until their boundaries were demarcated in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. But Yangon began oil and gas exploration activities in the disputed area. The dispute cooled after Dhaka sent letters of protest followed by a high-level delegation to Yangon for talks and requested South Korean industrial giant Daewoo pull out its installation from the exploration site. Dhaka also involved Beijing in the process to defuse tension. Bangladesh's chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein also discussed the issue Thursday when they met on the sidelines of the second summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation in New Delhi.