Bangladesh, Myanmar to demarcate maritime boundary through coordinated policy

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to demarcate their maritime boundary through a coordinated policy having the "principle of equity" and " equidistance system."

Both countries reached the consensus to formulate the coordinated policy on the last day of a two-day high-level meeting in Bangladesh's Chittagong city, 242 km southeast of capital Dhakaon Saturday, private news agency UNB reported.

Bangladesh's Additional Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) MKhorshed Alam briefed reporters about it after the meeting.

Alam, who led the Bangladeshi delegation at the meeting, said the two countries would hold another meeting in Myanmar before April to formulate the coordinated policy. He, however, said the talks ended fruitfully. Myanmar's delegation was headed by deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar Yu Maung Myint.

Alam said the nature of the coordinated system would be fixed through discussions. "It's a technical matter. We've agreed to continue talks," he said.

During Friday's talks, Bangladesh and Myanmar placed their respective proposals on demarcation of the maritime boundary, as they opened the talks on a positive note to resolve the dispute over the mineral-rich waters of the Bay of Bengal.

On the first day of the two-day meeting, Bangladesh proposed fixing the maritime boundary following the "principle of equity" while Myanmar recommended per-line-based "equidistance system."

The dispute was created over the maritime boundary between the two neighboring countries as Bangladesh protested Myanmar's move for lifting mineral resources from a disputed block in Bay of Bengal in 2008.

Later, Bangladesh formally raised the issue at the Arbitration Tribunal of the United Nations in October, 2009, for a solution.

Source: Xinhua