Bangladesh Secures Another Maritime Boundary Win

The verdict of the PCA came after nearly five years of arguments and counter-arguments, spot visit by judges and examination of survey reports. The arguments from both sides focused on issues including the location of the land boundary terminus, delimitation of the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles. The tribunal verdict is binding on all parties and there is no option for appeal. However, according to the rules of procedures, if any party needs any interpretation of the verdict, it can make a request to the court within 30 days of receiving the verdict and the interpretation would be made available within 45 days.

The Bangladesh side was represented by former foreign minister Dipu Moni and Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md Khurshed Alam, Secretary of the Maritime Affairs unit of the Foreign Ministry. Lawrence Martin, Philippe Sands, Payam Akhavan, Paul Reichler, Alan Boyle and James Crawford were counsels on behalf of Bangladesh. The verdict and all relevant documentation regarding the “Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India” can be accessed here.

India’s reactions and Indo-Bangla relations

The ruling was welcomed by India, which said it paved the way for greater economic cooperation between the two countries. Bangladesh declared the result a win-win situation for the peoples of Bangladesh and India. In a statement, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated: "The settlement of the maritime boundary will further enhance mutual understanding and goodwill between India and Bangladesh by bringing to closure a long-pending issue…This paves the way for the economic development of this part of the Bay of Bengal, which will be beneficial to both countries."

Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told a news conference on Tuesday: "We commend India for its willingness to resolve this matter peacefully by legal means and for its acceptance of the tribunal's judgment…This is a victory of friendship between Bangladesh and India. The maritime dispute between the two countries has come to an end following the verdict and the verdict is expected to take the relationship between the two countries one step forward”.

Win against Myanmar in 2012

In 2012, Bangladesh resolved a similar sea border dispute that had been a long standing point of contention with neighboring Myanmar, with a ruling made by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. The verdict delivered by the German-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on March 14, 2012 sustained Bangladesh's claim to 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone and territorial rights in the Bay of Bengal against Myanmar's claim. The verdict awarded Bangladesh a sizable share of the disputed waters in the eastern part of the Bay of the Bengal, including the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

What the verdict means for Bangladesh

The international court, by and large, accepted Bangladesh’s plea to resolve the maritime dispute based on the principle of ‘equitable solution’ instead of using the ‘equidistance formula’ as insisted by the Indian side. The PCA awarded Bangladesh 118,813 square kilometers of water comprising 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles into the high seas.

Moreover, the verdict acknowledged Bangladesh’s sovereign rights to the sea bed of the continental shelf extending as far as 354 nautical miles or 667 kilometers in the high seas, taking Chittagong coast as the baseline. The verdict clearly awarded Bangladesh the “undeniable right to exploit living and non living resources over the area and it is free to take any activity to use the resources in any form to the benefit of the nation”.

Background to international maritime boundary dispute resolutions

The post independence government of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujinur Rahman established the legal entitlements of Bangladesh to the apportionment of maritime areas and exploitation of marine resources therein by passing the "Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act-1974". This was the first maritime legislation was enacted by any country in the region. Bangladesh at that time declared 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and 200 nautical miles of economic zone well before such concept was even developed widely in the international arena. Bangabandhu also initiated maritime boundary negotiations with India and Myanmar and even settled the 12 NM territorial sea boundary with Myanmar in Nov 1974.

After August 15, 1975 carnage in which Bangabandhu was assassinated along with most of his family members and the post- independence government was toppled, the maritime boundary issue appeared to be a matter of less importance in the priority list of post 1975 regimes. The then government under former president HM Ershad, however, signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but it remained un-ratified since its adoption in 1982. The international law which was of utmost crucial for Bangladesh was ratified after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led Awami League came back to power in 1996.

The cabinet on July 9, 2001 ratified the UNCLOS and thus Bangladesh became full member of the convention in July 2001. After ratification of the UNCLOS in 2001, Bangladesh needed to submit scientific and technical data (seismic and bathymetric) to United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) within 10 years i.e. July 2011 for establishment of its extended continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal beyond 200 nautical miles. Bangladesh conducted the first ever dedicated seismic survey of the Bay of Bengal in March 2010.

After completing the most crucial task of collecting geophysical and bathymetric data of the seabed, Bangladesh finally submitted its claim on the extended continental shelf to the UN with all supporting data on 25 February 2011, five months prior to the deadline. This initiative also opened up new opportunities of protection, preservation and utilization of economic resources of the Bay of Bengal both within and beyond 200 nautical miles. But the unresolved maritime boundary continued to create severe obstacles to exploration and exploitation of natural
resources, affected deep sea fishing.

Thus, Bangladesh took a bold, visionary and timely decision for settlement of this issue through peaceful means that is compulsory dispute settlement procedure under the UNCLOS. On 08 October, 2009 Notice of Arbitration was issued against Myanmar and India under Part XV of the UNCLOS for delimitation of territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental
shelf in accordance with international Law.