India objects to Bangladesh’s submission to amend continental shelf limits

India has lodged its objection with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) over Bangladesh’s claim requesting the Commission not to “consider and qualify” the amended submission made by Bangladesh, reports UNB.

“The consideration and qualification by the Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf of the amended submission by Bangladesh would prejudice the rights of India over the parts of the continental shelf,” reads a written communication made by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations drawing attention to the relevant wing of the United Nations.

The document dated 16 April was posted on the website of CLCS. The “note verbale” is supposed to be circulated to the members of the Commission and Member States of the UN.

Bangladesh submitted the amended submission on the Continental Shelf to the CLCS of the United Nations on 22 October 2020.

Earlier, Bangladesh lodged a submission to the Commission on 25 February 2011 in accordance with the Article 76, paragraph 8 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, concerning the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

However, subsequently Bangladesh’s maritime boundary was determined up to the limits of the Continental Shelf by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in the dispute, concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal in 2012 and Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Matter of the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India in 2014, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry prepared the revised submission and finally submitted the amended submission for further proceedings by the CLCS which supersedes in its entirety the Submission deposited on 25 February 2011.

The government of India stated that Bangladesh in its amended submission has reported that outer limits of the continental shelf presented in this amended submission have been adjusted to give effect to the binding maritime boundary delimitations established in the Bangladesh/Myanmar Judgment and the Bangladesh/India Award.

According to Rule 46 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, in case of a dispute in delimitation of the continental shelf between opposite or adjacent states or in other cases of unresolved land or maritime disputes, submissions are subject to Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, India said.