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Sri Lanka Upset by Indian Moves to Extend Territorial Waters
The recent announcement by India that it proposes to claim an extension to its territorial waters has disturbed neighboring Sri Lanka, reported The Island newspaper on Tuesday.
Sri Lankan Scientist Dennis Fernando has warned that unless Sri Lanka moves fast and stakes a similar claim it may lose vast resources in areas outside the Sri Lankan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) including ocean bed minerals, petroleum, gas, shale and fisheries.
Under the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Sri Lanka can move its EEZ beyond the 200 nautical mile limit and stake a claim on these wealth provided it completed an exhaustive seismic survey before the 2004 deadline set by the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
Sri Lanka has not done much in this direction to claim a large area in the Southern part of Bay of Bengal for which India can also stake a claim.
India has announced that it will expedite surveys to study sediment deposits in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean that it hopes to complete earlier than the 2005 deadline given by ISA.
In view of the Indian initiative Sri Lanka has renewed activity to stake its claim in time and the Presidential Secretariat and Foreign Ministry have activated the relevant authorities including the National Aquatic Resources Agency, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau for the speedy exploration of the sea.
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