Mar 2, 2011

Land and Maritime Boundary Issues

India and Bangladesh are likely to exchange 162 enclaves. India has 111 enclaves or nearly 17,158 acres of land in Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari districts of Bangladesh, while Bangladesh has 51 enclaves measuring 7,110 acres in Cooch Behar district of India. The enclaves are land owned by the Coochbehar and Rangpur kings in pre partition India which were transferred to each state though the boundary was running through the same. If the plan is approved, Bangladesh will get 10,048 acres with an increase in population of 50,000 or so if the Indian citizens agree to change their nationality. In 1974, Bangladesh ratified the Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement to resolve the problems, but India has yet to ratify the agreement. The other issues pertaining to the land is the 6.5km undemarcated border and 6,500 acres of adversely possessed land in each other's territories which may however take some time. Exchange of land between India and Bangladesh on the Enclaves is a pragmatic solution but how much political understanding is there to accept the same at the local level remains to be seen.

To better monitor borders, Bangladesh is also planning to raise 19 new battalions of Bangladesh Border Guards over the next five years. "We will raise the battalions in phases in next five years alongside creating four regional headquarters as a new tier in the structure of the frontier force and four new sectors under a massive reconstruction plan for Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)," Major General Rafiqul Islam told in an interview to the media. The aim of the accretion is to reduce existing gaps in frontier outposts from 10 kilometres to five kilometers. Observation towers and procurement of 17,000 motorbikes for the border guards is also being undertaken. With a new look Border Guards Bangladesh having taken post in the country the process of expanding border security is now underway. Large scale movement of people and smuggling of goods on the Indo Bangladesh border has been a cause of concern. Indian border guards the Border Security Force are frequently accused of firing at innocents by human rights organizations on both sides, hopefully the increase in strength of border guards would result in enhancing security and greater surveillance of the border.

There is also a maritime dispute between India and Bangladesh with separate claims by both the countries. The Bangladesh government has prepared a position paper for submission to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in New York. M. Khurshed Alam, the foreign ministry's additional secretary for the UNCLOS wing, said: "The document was prepared following the Gardiner method under Article 76 of the UNCLOS." A country enjoys rights to fishing and exploring and extracting other marine resources in 12-24 nautical miles of territorial sea from the coastline, 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone and maximum of 350 nautical miles of continental shelf.

The use of Gardiner method under Article 76 of the UNCLOS provides additional leeway to Bangladesh for demarcation of boundary. Gardiner Line determines outer limit of the continental shelf by connecting points established using the sediment formula. An outer limit point is established at the point where the depth of sediment is 1% of the distance to the foot of the slope, provided that there is continuous sediment between this point and the foot of the slope point. As the continental shelf of the country extends due to sediments much beyond the normal shoreline it is afforded an additional 100 nautical miles into the EEZ that may provide much energy and gas resources as the area is rich in the same. Whether the claim would be accepted by the UNCLOS now remains to be seen. Bangladesh thus expects to gain an EEZ up to 450 nautical miles by use of the Gardiner’s method.