India, Bangladesh to discuss maritime dispute

Resolution of the maritime boundary dispute will be an important item on their summit agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at New Delhi on Monday.

Resolution of the maritime boundary dispute will be an important item on their summit agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina here Monday.

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In October last year, Bangladesh approached the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), seeking arbitration to delineate the boundary of the continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal.

During the talks Monday, the two sides are likely to discuss the composition of the tribunal that will arbitrate the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries, a reliable source said.

The two leaders will also look for a political solution to the vexed issue, the source added.

Dhaka's decision to move the UNCLOS came after India and Myanmar protested against Bangladesh allotting offshore oil blocks to two multi-nationals, ConocoPhillips and Tullow, last year.

India and Bangladesh have held two rounds of talks on demarcation of maritime boundary in September 2008 and March 2009.