Bangladesh internal waters
In international Law of the Sea, the most important line in the concept of maritime boundary is the BASE LINE of a country.
The area in landward direction within the base line (which is normally the lowest tide mark on a firm and established coastline) is known as 'internal waters' of a country and any area on the seaward side is then marked off as 'territorial waters' (up to 12 miles for intervention to stop crime, smuggling etc); and then for economic zone (up to 200 miles, decided by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in 1985 in favour of Iceland because it was heavily dependant for its survival on the Atlantic cod fish, following the so called 'cod-war' between Britain and Iceland).
Later a limit of up to 350 miles from the base line was internationally accepted for exploration of sea bed minerals.
So the most important boundary in the law of the sea is the base line or 'internal waters line' of a country and it is often confused with 'territorial waters' by laymen who are ignorant of legal terms. Bangladesh must register the limits of its internal waters with UN authorities as soon as possible, as only from such an established base line, the territorial waters, economic zone and continental shelf zones can be negotiated or calculated. To my knowledge, this has not been done yet because Bangladesh does not have a firm and rocky coastline like most other countries with clear and continuous high or low water mark.
Bangladesh has many islands in the Bay of Bengal and new islands are being continually formed and old ones being eroded.
So Bangladesh (for its survival like Iceland) is in a unique position to approach ICJ for special consideration for accepting its base line and its internal waters.
As evidence of such claims and consideration, passage of inland water vessels through various islands in the Bay of Bengal from ports in Chittagong to ports in Khulna and other districts can be seen to be regulated by Inland Water Navigation Legislations from time immemorial, denoting that these areas clearly form Bangladesh internal waters. So a base line needs to be drawn towards the sea side of such navigational paths and then from such an accepted 'base-line' will come the 12-mile territorial waters line, and then the 200-mile economic zone line, and finally the 350-mile continental shelf line etc.
So it is the base line of Bangladesh, defining its internal waters and getting international agreement or judgment to it, which is all important.
I would therefore request the Bangladesh authorities to proclaim clearly and without delay such a base line, and register it with the UN repository with evidence as to what are the limits of its internal waters. Also submit copies of such proclamations to all foreign governments through its embassies abroad to take note of, especially maritime nations.
The other boundaries can then be negotiated from this base line with neighbours, or cases of disagreements submitted to ICJ for decision.
Like Iceland, Bangladesh an industrially weak and poor country without much resources, merits special international consideration to define its 'internal waters line' or 'base line' for survival.
Without having such an accepted base line, any negotiations are premature, like putting carts before a horse.
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