Shortly after forming her government in 2009, the prime minister paid a visit to the Armed Forces Division (AFD) where she was being briefed on the recently witnessed naval standoff between Bangladesh and Myanmar in November 2008. She was presented with an in-depth analysis of the crisis which we had been just through with recommendations on our future courses of action.
Here, the maritime dispute due to not having done the delimitation of the sea area was highlighted, and it was strongly recommended that Bangladesh needed to go to international court to resolve the issue. The military fully understood the importance of a negotiated settlement on the disputed claim on international and territorial waters with our neighbours; it was of prime importance for a permanent solution and de-escalation of tension with Myanmar.
Prior to her visit, the AFD approached the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) requesting him to be present in the session where all three chiefs of staff would be present. The foreign secretary to the surprise of all turned down the request, stating that MOFA will have their separate briefing for the PM on the Bangladesh-Myanmar issue.
This to my mind was a turf war between the MOFA and the military. However, the military remained on track and pursued this issue that was vital to our national interest. It was in the military’s relentless persuasion that later, a specialized cell in MOFA named Maritime Affairs Unit was set up.
Bangladesh decided to go to the International Tribunal in October, 2009 and on March 14, 2012 the verdict on the Bangladesh-Myanmar dispute at ITLOS (International Tribunal on Laws of Seas) Hamburg, Germany was given. Bangladesh's view on equitable sharing of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal against Myanmar's claim based on the method of equidistance was accepted at ITLOS.
In a similar line, Bangladesh also moved to resolve the dispute with India. On July 7, 2014, the verdict on the Bangladesh-India dispute was given in the Hague, Netherlands. The Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague sustained Bangladesh's claims of equitable solution to a full 200 nautical mile (NM) exclusive economic zone in Bay of Bengal and to a substantial share of the extended continental shelf beyond 200 NM.
The verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) came two years after Bangladesh won a nearly identical maritime dispute with Myanmar mentioned earlier at the German-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). We can only visualize the kind of fierce legal battle that had to be fought to get this verdict.
This was a classic example of effective civil and military cooperation in promoting and upholding national interest. This also showed the importance of having subject matter experts, putting appropriate means at their disposal, and trust in resolving such complicated issues at the international parlance. The foreign ministry and the military worked well in spite of having some disagreements at the beginning.
The Maritime Affairs unit in MOFA is a fine example of a smart outfit where knowledge and experience, diplomacy and military strategy, and the quest for legal and technical knowhow have all been nicely blended and synergized to identify national interest, keep focus on it, unearth a huge potential of underwater wealth, obtain legitimate international recognition, and prescribe a way forward for sustainable exploration and exploitation of those.
This is what happens when the state machineries are put to action in tandem for preserving and promoting national interest in their unwavering and relentless quest.
I would say the Myanmar incursion in 2008 acted as a catalyst in generating a lot of awareness in the military and government echelons of Bangladesh. That may have been crisis management, but the authorities did focus much beyond the immediate incidents. That is why we can see plenty of thinking now for managing the resources of the seas and oceans in the name of the blue economy, to create an environment open to innovation and growth, informed decision-making, and adaptive management.
Brigadier General Qazi Abidus Samad, ndc, psc (Retd) is a freelance contributor. Email: [email protected]
