Our maritime boundary
It appears that the Bangladesh government is going about it the wrong way. India and Myanmar are being blamed for submitting their maritime boundary limitations to the UN which detract from Bangladesh's fair share of the resources. Did India or Myanmar consult Bangladesh and have Bangladesh's agreement to delimit such boundary and send it to the UN? Obviously not. So why is Bangladesh so eager to submit its boundary limitations after India and Myanmar agree to it?
There is something seriously wrong here! And it is that the present law of the sea as regards coastline (or the baseline) does not apply to Bangladesh as it has no rocky or permanent coast which can be used to define its baseline. Old chars disappear, new chars rise in the delta basin every year and also the river running into the Bay of Bengal change their courses frequently. So how can Bangladesh put its claim for a baseline to the UN where the definition of the baseline does not fit its case. It must also be remembered that it is the baseline which is all important from which the economic zone and continental shelf zone etc. are measured. If Bangladesh has no registered claim for a baseline, then negotiations about the other lines are meaningless.
Bangladesh therefore must approach the UN body to inform them of this deficiency in the present law of the sea as regards Bangladesh's unique geography and have some other reasonable definition of baseline such as say 6 fathom depth line on the seabed, or a baseline simply defined by latitudes and longitudes at various points. This must be done by Bangladesh alone without any consultation with its neighbours for their agreement, and Bangladesh must submit such a baseline to the UN at the earliest, and move to the International Court for amendment of the present law of the sea. The matter can also be discussed in UN Councils and there may be other countries lying on delta land such as Laos, Cambodia etc. who I am sure would support such an amendment.
After submitting the baseline limitations, then the other zone lines will fall as under the present law of the sea and Bangladesh can submit such boundaries also to UN. If India and Myanmar do not like it then all three countries may sit together for an equitable settlement for these zones (but not the baseline). Equity is a principle that is only applied when the present law is found to be deficient. So it is necessary to claim and show to the UN that the present law is deficient for Bangladesh to define its baseline. The maritime boundary, especially the delimitation of Bangladesh baseline, should be topmost priority of the government.
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