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CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ THE BAY OF BENGAL MARITIME ARBITRATION
1. Introduction
International Border No. 947, Fulbari, India, 2011: at an ungodly hour of a foggy
January morning, a father and his daughter endeavoured to reach their native Bangladesh
by crossing the barbed border fence. 15 year old Felani Khatun’s father jumped through
first, but Felani couldn’t. Her dress was stuck in the barbed fence. She screamed, which
alerted the Indian soldier on duty. The sound of a gunshot engulfed the air as she turned
silent forever. Her body dangled upside down for hours before it was taken down.
Felani Khatun’s death is an exemplification of the strained relationship that India
and Bangladesh share. Illegal migration, smuggling, the exchange of enclaves, river-
water sharing disputes and entitlement over the sovereignty of a small island are the
major points of contentions between the countries, among others.1
Ongoing disputes are a cause of worry because they are like dormant volcanoes,
which can erupt at the slightest of provocations. However, recently a sign of positivity
was seen when both countries resolved a long standing dispute – over maritime
border demarcation and the ownership of a small island called New Moore/South
Talpatti. Initiated by Bangladesh, this dispute was resolved through an arbitration
process with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) acting as the registry.2 This
landmark award under the international law of the sea is important because of the
dose of optimism it added to India-Bangladesh relations.
2. Relevant Law
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted
in 1982 and is an international agreement regulating the usage of the oceans and its
resources. The Convention consists of 320 Articles divided into 17 Parts, with nine
Annexes.3
As per the provisions of UNCLOS, the sea breadth that a State has sovereignty
over is called its Territorial sea. This extends up to 12 nautical miles (nm) from the
coasts of the State.4 A State has Exclusive Economic rights up to 200 nm from its
coast.5 Moreover, when two nations are adjacent or opposite to one another, both
countries are, in ordinary circumstances, entitled to territorial sea only up to an
equidistant median line.6 Continental shelf is generally the submerged prolongation
1 ISHITIAQ HOSSAIN, ‘Bangladesh-India Relations: Issues and Problems’ [1981] 21(11) Asian
survey 1115.
2 Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India, Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA), Award of 7 July 2014, 10, (Hereinafter ‘The Award’).
3 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (adopted 10 December 1982, ratified 14 November
1994) > last
accessed 1 May 2016.
4 Ibid., article 3.
5 Ibid., article 57.
6 Ibid., article 15.