South-east Aisan neighbors Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to resolve their maritime dispute over the natural gas and mineral-rich zone in the Bay of Bengal in accordance with the principles of "equi-distance and equity of resources," officials said Sunday in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
This follows an agreement reached Saturday at a two-day meeting in the Bangladesh port city Chittagong, 242 km southeast of Dhaka.
Describing the meeting 'fruitful,' Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Khurshid Alam, who led his country's delegation, said: "Both sides decided to demarcate the maritime boundary..."
The two sides also decided to meet again in April in Myanmar to explore ways to implement the formula, he said, after his meeting with Maung Myint, the deputy foreign minister of Myanmar, who led his country's delegation.
"We are very happy with the fruitful discussion. It was a very good discussion [and] it will continue," Phae Thann Oo, Myanmar's ambassador to Bangladesh and who was present at the meeting, told reporters later.
The dispute over the maritime boundary emerged when Myanmar began exploring deep-sea mineral resources in the Bay of Bengal last year. India has also claimed resources in the Bay of Bengal claimed by Bangladesh, leading to a second border dispute.
Last October, Bangladesh formally sought U.N. arbitration of its maritime disputes with Myanmar and India, saying negotiations with the neighbors were unlikely to resolve the issue soon.
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