Dhaka disputes maritime boundary claims of India, Myanmar

October 12th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh has said it is responding to threats from its eastern neighbour Myanmar, which has amassed troops on the border and readied warships and fighter jets "in preparation for a large-scale conflict". The Myanmar military brought in tanks, artillery guns and 13 warships along its border with Bangladesh Sunday, The Daily Star newspaper said Monday quoting sources at the Bangladesh Armed Forces.

October 8th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh has officially asked for arbitration under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas for its maritime boundary dispute with India and Myanmar. We have decided to go for arbitration as the issue was not resolved through bilateral discussion with the two neighbours in the last 35 years," Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters here.

June 29th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh has sought British help for its land border management and maritime security as part of a string of joint working groups it seeks to set up within the South Asian region and outside with the US, Australia and Russia. The first such Joint Working Group (JWG) was set up with Britain Sunday to enhance counter terrorism cooperation between the two countries.

June 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh is set to protest to the UN against Myanmar's claim to the territorial sea in the Bay of Bengal, where maritime boundaries have caused disputes and led to stand-offs. Foreign ministry officials told New Age newspaper Wednesday that Dhaka may send in its protest even before the next round of technical discussions with Yangon in mid-July.

June 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - The Bangladesh Navy has sought modern ships and equipment and an overall maritime policy to better guard the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). A report submitted to the country's lawmakers Monday also sought a separate hydrography department to be able to delineate the maritime boundary vis a vis its neighbours India and Myanmar with whom it recently had stand-offs in the high seas.

June 6th, 2009 DHAKA - Eleven Bangladeshi fishermen have allegedly been hurt in firing by Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, in a trans-border clash in the Bay of Bengal's upper reaches, media reports said here Saturday. Dhaka claims that its fishermen were forcibly prevented by Nasaka personnel from fishing in the estuary region around St.

March 17th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh says its eastern neighbour Myanmar is 'unilaterally' erecting a barbed wire fencing along its border and has mobilised troops and naval force. Tension runs high along the Bangladesh-Myanmar 200 km long border, The Daily Star said Tuesday quoting unnamed defence sources.

February 17th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh wants to get down to the nitty gritty of demarcating its maritime boundary, first with India in mid-March and shortly thereafter with Myanmar, an official said. The technical discussions have been scheduled to be held in New Delhi, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain said Tuesday.

February 9th, 2009 DHAKA - The US offer to Dhaka to assist in patrolling sea lanes in the Bay of Bengal would lead to 'naval dominance' that would be detrimental to the interests of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, a daily has warned. The three main players in the bay searching for hydrocarbons should resolve their maritime boundaries amicably and mutually and not invite any outsider, New Age newspaper said in an editorial.

February 7th, 2009 DHAKA - The US plans to help Bangladesh protect mineral-rich waters it claims in the Bay of Bengal through maritime patrolling, a senior US official said Sunday. 'I think there is some interest in maritime patrols to protect your sea areas better.

January 15th, 2009 DHAKA - The new Bangladesh government wants to engage neighbours India and Myanmar to demarcate maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal to be able to file its claim before the United Nations by 2011, a media report said Friday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who convened a meeting of energy ministry officials Thursday, said she would coordinate with the foreign office in contacting Delhi and Yangon, but did not indicate when.

January 6th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's newly-appointed foreign minister Dipu Moni has said Dhaka will take the initiative to form a Joint Task Force on terrorism in consultation with other South Asian nations. 'Terrorism (has) turned out to be a matter of worldwide concern,' said Dipu Moni after she took office, Star Online said.

December 26th, 2008 DHAKA - Bangladesh Saturday lodged a formal protest with India over the alleged crossing by three Indian oil and gas survey ships into what it claims to be its waters and called for settling the maritime boundary by 'mutual agreement'. Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain, who handed over the formal protest note to India's High Commissioner to the country Pinak Ranjan Chakravorty, told reporters that Dhaka has asked New Delhi to stop maritime survey or development activities and remove the ships from the area until the maritime boundary is settled.

December 26th, 2008 DHAKA - Bangladesh has said that it will lodge a formal complaint with India about three Indian oil and gas survey ships that allegedly crossed into its maritime boundary and continued working despite being told to leave. A press statement issued here Friday by the Bangladesh foreign ministry said an Indian survey vessel and its two support ships had initially moved towards Indian waters but were spotted inside Bangladesh waters Thursday afternoon.

December 25th, 2008 DHAKA - Bangladesh has deployed two war ships in the Bay of Bengal after a standoff with India over hydrocarbon exploration in the waters, according to a media report quoting a navy official. The row began as three survey vessels backed by the Indian Navy started exploration early Thursday, eight nautical miles inside what Dhaka claims is its maritime territory near the Fairway Buoy navigation channel around Block 14 in the southwest of the Bay.