BANGLADESH- INDIA

MARITIME BORDER DISPUTE

SURVEY TECHNIQUES

PRESENTED BY

HASNIN SYEDA (17-33399-1)

TAHMID ZAMAN (17-34082-1)
RASHID MD MAMUNUR (17-33211-1)
INTRODUCTION
- The talks on the maritime disputes over territorial
waters has been on the debate ever since
Bangladesh was formed, in 1971. But all the efforts
made to solve this issue, went in vain and
Bangladesh had to seek help from the UN in 2009. 
- The conflict was fairly made on the decision of
choosing methods for determining the ownership of
territorial waters. While India wanted "equidistance"
method, Bangladesh wanted equitable solution.
- A statement given by the Ministry of External
Affairs, "This paves the way for the economic
development of this part of the Bay of Bengal, which
will be beneficial to both countries." The issue has
finally been resolved in 2011. 

Figure : Above - India (orange) and Myanmar (yellow) maritime

border claims and zone-locked Bangladesh. Below -
Bangladesh's maritime border claim (green)
BACKGROUND
- The maritime delimitation of the bay forms subject of long running dispute between 3
states: India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
- The Bangladesh-India maritime boundary has been pending since 1974.
- During bilateral negotiations starting from 1974, India proposed to squeeze Bangladesh
maritime area from the west to a point that took away a large chunk of Bangladesh's
maritime economic zones by drawing the boundary line based on the equidistance method
without geographical and geo-morphological considerations.
-In April 2009, after several rounds of talks with India, the government took a bold decision
to submit the dispute settlement machinery under the 1982 Conventional Law of the sea.
- India didn’t agree to submit the case to ITLOS but agreed to refer the case to arbitral
Tribunal.
- On march 14, 2012 the ITLOS accepted Bangladesh’s argument that equitable principles
would be applied in drawing the maritime boundary with the Myanmar.
BACKGROUND

Figure 2: Bangladesh and India's conflicting maritime boundary claims. Bangladesh's

equity principle is shown in red, while India's equidistance principle is in yellow.
BACKGROUND
- Though the tribunal in Hamburg awarded 111,631 sq km area of the bay of baengal to
Bangladesh; some part of it was claimed by indai on a 162 degree azimuth line from the mouth of
Haribhanga estuary.
- We argued on natural prolongation stated as per article 76 of UNCLOS on the basis of bathymetric
map of the Bengal depositional system.
- The verdict given by the PCA in the Hague on maritime disputes between India and Bangladesh,
on July 2014. According to the verdict, Bangladesh lost 6135sq km only, out of India’s claim on
25,602 sq km of area.
DETAILS OF THE
MARITIME
DISPUTEmaritime dispute can be broken down into three major points of contention
The Indo-Bangladesh
as described in the table below.
Issue Indian claims Bangladeshi Claims Precedent
Sovereignty over south Island belongs to india Island belongs to None
talpati islands according to Thalweg Bangladesh according to
Doctrine as the mid flow Thalweg Doctrine as the
of the river is on the mid flow of the river is on
island’s eastern side. the island’s western side.
Demarcation be done Demarcation be done Low water baseline
Territorial sea dispute according to low water according to the straight system followed world
basline which closely water baseline due to over
follows the curve of the uneven and variable
vertical coastline. coastline.
Exclusive economic zone Demarcation be done Demarcation be done For equidistant-
dispute according to the according to the equity Cameroon/ Nigeria Case.
equidistant principle principle For equity- North sea
Continental Shelf Case.
DETAILS OF THE
MARITIME
THE DISPUTE
TERRRITORIAL WATER DISPUTE
- Territorial waters are important because these
regions are extensively used for shipping and fishing.
India contends that if Bangladesh were to follow the
straight baseline system then firstly it will encroach
on Indian territorial waters and secondly it would
increase Bangladesh’s Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ) claim substantially.
- This will adversely impact the fishing communities
in India. Bangladesh’s proposed straight water
baseline system is ambiguous as it is very difficult to
determine whether a particular region is suffering
from unstable coastlines and rising sea levels.
DETAILS OF THE
MARITIME
THE DISPUTE
EEZ DISPUTE
- The dispute over demarcation of the EEZ is
based on which principle to apply equidistance or
equitability
- The use of equidistance methods depends on the
baselines along the coasts of the respective
States whose offshore areas are to be separated
by the boundary.
- Bangladesh uses the particular phrase “special
circumstances” to invoke the principle of
equitability instead. This principle, while dictating
that the boundary be drawn in a manner that Figure : India's 'low-water' baseline (red), and Bangladesh's
'low-water' baseline perceived by India (orange)
avoids an inequitable result, does not provide any and Bangladesh’s territorial water according to the straight
precise criteria for what manner of result is to be baselines principle (green).
considered equitable.
 MARITIME
BORDER
According to the Bangladesh government gazette, The limits of the territorial waters, exclusive
economic zone and continental shelf of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal adjacent/ conterminous to
India are as follows:
(i) Land Boundary Terminus- The Land Boundary Terminus (LBT) between Bangladesh and India was
determined by the Sir Cyril Radcliff Award of 1947. The coordinates of this point referred to Everest
1830 and WGS-84 are as follows (all other points are referred to WGS-84 only):

DATUM Latitude Longitude

Everest 1830 21° 38' 37.2" N 89° 09' 29.4" E
E WGS-84 21° 38' 40.2" N 89° 09' 20.0" E

REFERANCE: Bangladesh Gazette, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs , 24 JANUARY,2014
 MARITIME
BORDER
(ii) Territorial Sea - The maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India in the 12(twelve)
Nautical Mile (NM) Territorial Sea is defined by a line joining the LBT and point 2 (with coordinates
21° 26′ 43.6′′ N, 89° 10′ 59.2′′ E);

REFERANCE: Bangladesh Gazette, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs , 24 JANUARY,2014
 MARITIME
BORDER
(iii) Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf
within 200 (two hundreds) NM.-The single maritime
boundary between Bangladesh and India in the
Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf
within 200 (two hundreds) NM are as below:
(a) from point 2, a geodetic line until it reaches
point 3 (with coordinates 21° 07' 44.8" N, 89° 13'
56.5" E);
(b) from point 3, a geodetic line with an azimuth of
177° 30'00" until it meets the outer limits of
Bangladesh’s Exclusive Economic Zone and
Continental Shelf within 200 (two hundreds) NM at
the point with coordinates 18° 15' 54.12" N, 89°
21' 47.56" E.

CONTINENTAL SHELF EEZ

REFERANCE: Bangladesh Gazette, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs , 24 JANUARY,2014
 MARITIME
BORDER
(iv) Continental Shelf beyond 200 (two hundreds) NM.- The 177° 30'00" line continues in the same
direction until it meets at the point with coordinates 16° 43' 28.74" N, 89° 25' 54.37" E.

REFERANCE: Bangladesh Gazette, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs , 24 JANUARY,2014
FACTS
- 30 million Bangladeshi directly depend on oceanic economic activities like fisheries and
commercial transportation.
- Bangladesh’s economy is sea borne to a good extent and with $130 billion GDP the country’s
economy stands the 44th
- Globally 350 million jobs are linked to marine fisheries, with 90% of fishers living in developing
countries. The value of fish traded by developing countries is estimated at $ 25
billion, making it their largest single 
trade item. Global catch rose from four million tones in1900 to 86.7 million tones in 2000, but has
 stagnated  subsequently.
- At present, around 600 ships arrive in Bangladesh per year and anchor in the ports of Chittagong
and Mongla. With this new opening of blue economy, a huge number of ships will anchor in the
ports of Bangladesh and earning from this sector is likely to increase tremendously.
- In 2009 offshore fields account for 32% of worldwide crude oil production and this is projected to
rise to 34% in 2025 and higher subsequently, as almost half the remaining recoverable
conventional oil is estimated to be in offshore fields a quarter of that in deep water.
CHALLENGES
The prime challenges of Maritime Boundary of  Bangladesh are given below: 
- Ensuring the sovereignty over the total coastal area.
- Maintain the security over the economic area.
- Establishing marine friendly infrastructure for marine tourist
- The country’s policies on maritime issues need to have proper continuity. It is important to give the
international community a strong message about our national priorities with regard to maritime and
related issues.
- Sustainable use of biodiversity
- To maintain marine and coastal ecosystems.
- To keep the sea area free from pollution and marine debris.