Bangla territorial waters not to be encroached

Dhaka, May 22: Myanmar authorities have assured that they would never encroach into Bangladesh territorial waters, saying that they believe in good neighbourly relations, as the two countries agreed on a number of issues of co-operation.

The assurance was given to Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin during his visit to Yangon, where he held first formal Foreign Secretary-level consultations with his Myanmar counterpart Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Thu on May 19.

''They (Myanmar) do not believe they have made any encroachment.

They assured they will never encroach into Bangladesh territorial water at any point of time,'' Mr Hemayetuddin told mediapersons yesterday at the Foreign Ministry on his return from Yangon.

Earlier, Bangladesh had lodged protests with both Myanmar and India against exploring hydrocarbon into Bangladesh's maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.

Describing the first-ever Foreign Secretary-level bilateral consultation as constructive and fruitful, Mr Hemayetuddin said all bilateral issues, including repatriation of Rohingya refugees, border security, road connection and bilateral trade and investment, were discussed.

He said Myanmar agreed to repatriate the remaining 21,172l Rohingyas sheltered in Cox's Bazar. They expressed readiness to take back 8,000 already cleared by Myanmar authorities. After the repatriation of 8,000 through UNHCR, the remaining Rohingyas will be taken back.

The two sides agreed to strengthen border security to stop illegal movements, particularly of drug smugglers and gunrunners. They agreed on holding frequent meetings between the border guards of the two countries, BDR and NASAKA, to maintain a secure and peaceful border.

On bilateral trade, he said the two sides agreed to increase the trade volume through border and coastal trade by improving the banking system and shipping line.

''Myanmar expressed keen interest in importing more pharmaceutical products from Bangladesh,'' he added.

Two-way trade favours Myanmar as Bangladesh imported 32.43 million dollars against its export of 4.18 million dollars in 2004-05 fiscal year.

The Myanmar side agreed to ease the visa regime for businessmen by extending visa for at least 15 days.

On construction of Bangladesh-Myanmar road, Mr Hemayetuddin said the two sides would soon sign a Memorandum of Understandung (MOU) on construction of 25-km road (2 km on Bangladesh side 23 km on Myanmar side) as the two subcommittees completed study on technical and financial aspects.

The proposed road could be linked with Kunming of China on consultation with the Chinese government to establish a greater connectivity in the region.

The two sides also discussed co-operation in defence in the form of training of military personnel.

On the stalled project for tri-nation gas pipeline, he said the Myanmar side raised the issue when he told them that settlement of some bilateral issues with India could make the way for the trans-border pipeline.

UNI