Myanmar proposes re-drawing sea border with Bangladesh

DHAKA - Myanmar has proposed drawing up of a new line to demarcate the maritime boundary with Bangladesh which is currently in talks with its western neighbour India on the sea border issue.

Bangladesh insists on the principle of “equity and equidistance” with its neighbours and has lodged complaints at the UN against both the countries.

The new line on the map proposed by Myanmar should be near the “Friendship line” that is an imaginary line down to St Martins Island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal.

Myanmar proposed the formula last week at the two-day bilateral negotiation held in Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital, New Age newspaper said.

It quoted an unnamed Bangladesh government official as saying: “Bangladesh will now weigh the new proposal of Myanmar.”

He said the two countries would continue maintaining a balance between the principles of equity and equidistance to resolve the dispute of maritime boundary demarcation.

All three nations are keen to join the race for exploration of hydrocarbons.

Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the ’starting point’ on how to demarcate the boundary of the exclusive economic zones that apparently overlapped claims of the three countries because of the funnel-like shape of the Bay of Bengal.

Additional foreign secretary M. Khurshid Alam led the Bangladesh delegation to expert-level talks on maritime boundary March 17-18.