Bangladesh News

Bangladesh and Myanmar failed to reach any decision in a high level meeting yesterday on the situation arising out of Myanmar’s mobilisation of naval ships in Bangladesh maritime territory for exploration and will sit again on November 16.

Navy ships of the two countries are staying near the exploration site.

Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain yesterday told BBC radio from Yangon that Bangladesh would withdraw its navy ships after Myanmar removes its rig from the site.

“We have asked officials of Myanmar to remove the rig from there. It will remove the tension. Then we will sit for discussion again,” he said. “We will define the boundary and solve all problems through discussion and develop our respective areas accordingly.”

On Thursday, Myanmar government rejected Bangladesh’s demand for immediate cessation of its oil and gas exploration off the western Rakhine coast. Terming the demand “unlawful” and “wrongful,” Myanmar government stated that the operations would continue.

Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain reiterated that the area falls in Bangladesh’s territory and expressed hope that those working at the site will leave. “We have received indications to this effect,” he added.

On Thursday, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said Daewoo initiated the process of dismantling the installation in the disputed waters of the Bay of Bengal and that the foreign ministry received a letter from Daewoo in this regard.

The Myanmarese ships started the exploration activities on Saturday ignoring Bangladesh Navy’s warnings that they were intruding into Bangladesh waters. The area is well within Bangladesh’s maritime territory and marked as deep-sea blocks 8-13.

Dhaka officially lodged a protest with the Myanmar ambassador on Sunday. Myanmar protested back to the Bangladeshi ambassador to that country the same day.

Besides requesting South Korean government to ask Daewoo to stop its activities, Dhaka also requested Myanmar’s closest ally China to ask Myanmar to quit Bangladesh waters until the maritime boundary is demarcated as per UN guidelines.

In 2005, Myanmar awarded rights of exploration in the area to Daewoo, which conducted the initial feasibility studies in 2007. Bangladesh’s protest came after Daewoo began formal exploration in the area in September.