Mizzima News

Dhaka – A foreign advisor of Bangladesh, Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, has received a report from a delegation that recently visited Burma to hold talks "to lay the foundation of technical negotiations on maritime boundary."

The foreign advisor first broached the subject of maritime demarcation with Burma when he visited the Southeast Asian country in April of last year. It was the first time the subject was discussed in 21 years.

The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, M.A.K. Mahmood, led the most recent delegation. The delegation included the Directors of the Hydrography Department and Foreign Office.

"The delegation informed me that it was received warmly by the Myanmar government. Besides having talks with their counterparts, the delegation members also had a meeting with the Myanmar Foreign Minister," Dr. Chowdhury said in Dhaka on Tuesday.

He also said they were informed that talks at the technical level will begin as soon as the Burmese cabinet fixes a date.

"We now have excellent neighborly relations with Myanmar and several rounds of talks have been held on different issues at different levels. After my visit, foreign secretary-level talks were held in Dhaka last year. Foreign Secretary M. Touhid Hossain is scheduled to travel to Myanmar soon for another set of bilateral talks," Dr. Chowdhury noted.

Besides the demarcation of the maritime boundary, the agenda for upcoming bilateral meetings will include road communications, rice imports, contract-farming, energy cooperation and the expansion of trade, official sources told the Mizzima.

Bangladesh is claiming 12 nautical miles of territorial sea, 200 nautical miles for an Exclusive Economic Zone and 350 nautical miles of continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh has until 2011 to justify its claim, as it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea in 2001.