Propaganda Is Rising To Undermine Govt’s Success With The Maritime Victory: PM

"A former BNP minister has said Bangladesh has not got the Talpatti Island. I think he should be sent to the Bay of Bengal to find it out," she said while addressing the officials of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry during her visit to the ministry this morning.

As a matter of fact, Sheikh Hasina said, there is no existence of the island now, but ill efforts are being made to undermine the government's success in the maritime victory. "BNP was in the state power for five years, but it did not perform its responsibility properly on this issue," she said.

She expressed her doubt saying Bangladesh would not have brought this historic success in the maritime boundary from India, had Awami League not won the last January 5 elections.

Terming the maritime victory against India and Mynamar as a grand success of the present government, Sheikh Hasina reiterated her determination to make the best utilization of e the resources to be earned through this win.

The Prime Minister said a maritime law was enacted in parliament when the government of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Shekh Mujibur Rahman was in power in 1974 to establish the rights of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal. "This victory today came as a result of the longstanding efforts of the Awami League governments so far," she said

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz spoke on the occasion. PM's Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Tariqul Islam and PM's Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury and high officials of the ministry were present.

Bangladesh on Tuesday won its maritime dispute with India as the Hague- based International Arbitral Tribunal delivered its verdict on Monday awarding Bangladesh 19,467 square kilometers area out of the disputed 25,602 square kilometers in the Bay of Bengal.

"The Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague” sustained Bangladesh's claims of equitable solution to a full 200 nautical mile (NM) exclusive economic zone in Bay of Bengal and to a substantial share of the extended continental shelf beyond 200 NM," Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali announced in a crowded press conference at his office on Tuesday.

He said the five-member tribunal agreed with Bangladesh that the "equidistance" method proposed for dividing the disputed waters between the two neighboring States was not equitable to Bangladesh.

According to the verdict, Ali said, Bangladesh finally won more than 1,18,813 square kilometers of waters comprising territorial sea, exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 NM across sizable area.

-Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)