Dhaka is yet to remark on Indian submission
Bangladesh has disputed the Myanmar's submission claiming its continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal (maritime boundary) to the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in a careless manner through a three-page "note verbale" which was submitted on July 23, 2009.
Even after Myanmar submitted the claim on December 16, 2008 Bangladesh disputed the claim just about two weeks before the 24th session of the UNCLOS which began on August 10, in New York. The UNCLOS will consider among other things the submission by Myanmar. Bangladesh is yet to dispute India's partial submission on maritime boundary of the Bay of Bengal.
While Myanmar stated that that the maritime boundary delimitation with Bangladesh is an ongoing process consistent with Article 76 of the UNCLOS, Bangladesh mentioned that the maritime boundary as claimed by Myanmar is considered to be a "disputed" one.
Myanmar's submission, as the note verbale of Bangladesh stated, incorrectly claimed that "the subject of this submission is not subject to any dispute between Myanmar and other states..." In fact the areas claimed by Myanmar in its submission to the Commission as part of its putative continental shelf are the natural prolongation of Bangladesh and hence Myanmar's claim is disputed by Bangladesh, it added.
Protest
The note verbale submitted to the United Nations also mentioned that Bangladesh in a separate note verbale sent to Myanmar government on June 30, 2009 had protested to the straight baselines claimed by Myanmar for the Prepares and Co Co islands and along the coast of Myanmar up to Oyster Island. They are accordingly disputed; the note verbale said and added that the Myanmar submission was not consistent with UNCLOS or international law.
The note verbale further stated that Bangladesh believes that Myanmar's claim of natural prolongation of its landmass through to the outer edge of the Rakhine Continental Margin on the basis of morphology, geology and tectonics, is not supported by persuasive morphological, geological or tectonic evidence. Scientific research and analysis have established that the morphology of the seabed in the Bay of Bengal is marked by a regional slope where water depth gradually increases from north to south, the note verbale mentioned and added that "this characteristic contradicts the notion of a westward prolongation of Myanmar's landmass, which would imply a regional slope at a right angle i.e. from east to west."
It further stated that the characteristic also underscores the reality that the seabed in the northern Bay of Bengal owes much of its shape and composition to the high volumes of sediment that have emerged mostly from or across the landmass of Bangladesh over geological time.
The note verbale made it clear that Bangladesh will make every effort to reach a practical arrangement with Myanmar that will allow the commission to consider both the submission of Myanmar and the submission that Bangladesh will make by July 2011.
Poorly drafted note verbale
Bangladesh's verbal note was not well-prepared; rather she initially stepped to raise the issue bilaterally when it sent the note directly to Myanmar in last June. It is not understood why it took to song to dispute the issue through a note on July 23, 2009.
Bangladesh's confused attitude was also reflected when Bangladesh representative made a remark on June 25 meeting of the commission, when it was discussing about budgetary measures and appointment of judges of the commission. At that time it was said that "Bangladesh would hand in its submission in July 2011, but it did not know when the commission would consider it. Appropriate steps should be taken to ease the commission's workload promptly. At that time the Bangladesh's statement was made in line with India's statement.
Indian representative stated that mechanism should be explored to ensure the timely processing of submissions presented to the commission. They should not have to wait 20 years for their submissions to be considered and new ways must be explored to address the backlog. The diplomatic circle thinks that though the note verbale against the Myanmar submission seems to be a departure from the original stand of Bangladesh to deal with the issue bilaterally, Bangladesh's stand in this regard is not clear. It is not clear what kind of stand it would make regarding India's submission.
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