Myanmar, Bangladesh meet over sea dispute
Chances of a maritime confrontation between Myanmar and Bangladeshi appeared to have eased, with officials from the two countries meeting to resolve their dispute over offshore waters that are being explored for oil and gas.
At the same time, Bangladeshi officials said on Friday they had received a letter from the South Korean oil company exploring the waters off its southeast coast that said it was withdrawing its exploration equipment from the disputed area.
In 2005, Myanmar awarded exploration rights in the area to South Korea's Daewoo International Corp, which conducted initial feasibility studies in 2007. Daewoo began formally exploring the concession area in September.
On Monday, Bangladesh accused Myanmar of intruding into Bangladeshi waters by sending several ships - apparently for prospecting - into the contested deep sea area, believed to contain hydrocarbon reserves.
Dhaka urged Yangon earlier this week to immediately withdraw its ships and stop exploration until the sea boundary dispute is resolved, saying Bangladesh would refrain from exploration. It sent naval vessels to the area, but vowed to use diplomatic methods to solve the dispute.
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, an adviser to Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday that he received a letter from Daewoo saying that it has started dismantling its oil and gas exploration equipment in the area in the Bay of Bengal.
"We have reconfirmed the matter with the Korean government," he said. "The company has told us that the withdrawal will take a few days."
Attempts to confirm Chowdhury's comments with Daewoo International offices in Seoul and Myanmar were not immediately successful.
Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain headed a four-member delegation that met on Thursday with Myanmar's deputy foreign minister Maung Myint, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported.
It gave no details of the meeting, which took place in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw.
But a government statement issued on state radio and television news broadcasts on Thursday evening indicated a lack of progress.
The statement said Myanmar would continue exploration in the waters and called Dhaka's demand "unlawful and wrong." It was the first official response to tension over disputed waters that flared over the weekend.
The two sides have been engaged in long-standing talks to delineate their maritime border, with the next discussions slated to take place on Nov 16-17 in Dhaka.
Agencies
(China Daily 11/08/2008 page11)
