Bangladesh has announced its decision to go to the United Nations for a resolution of its long-standing dispute with India and Myanmar over maritime boundary.
The country has served legal notices to India and Myanmar to settle the disputes before a U.N. tribunal .
Addressing a press conference here after holding talks with top Indian and Myanmar diplomats, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said the government had decided to go to U.N. arbitration as negotiations with the two neighbours over the last 35 years had failed to resolve the issue.
“We are submitting the issue to compulsory arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] to ensure our sovereign rights to the natural resources in the Bay,” Ms. Moni said. She, however, added that the bilateral discussions will continue.
Earlier on Thursday, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty and Myanmar ambassador U. Phae Thann Oo were called to the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes handed the notification of arbitration to them .
The arbitration notifications were issued a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced in Parliament her government’s decisive move towards exploring gas in the Bay.
Ms. Moni said the latest move to establish the country’s claims in the Bay of Bengal would not strain ties with India and Myanmar.
