Bangladesh gets 19,467 square kilometres and India 6,000 square kilometres in Bay of Bengal for fishing and exploration of maritime assets

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday awarded Bangladesh 19,467 square kilometres out of total 25,602 square kilometres disputed area in the Bay of Bengal and but around 6,000 square kilometres was awarded to India.
Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AH Mahmood Ali at a press conference on Tuesday said, “According to the verdict, Bangladesh has finally won more than 1,18,813 square kilometers of waters comprising territorial sea and exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles across a sizable area.”
“This is a victory of friendship between Bangladesh and India. The maritime dispute between the two countries has come to an end following the verdict,” he added.
Bangladesh Opposition party BNP alleges that government failed to present evidence properly due to ‘India’s influence and that is why the Bangladesh government had not made much preparations to protect the interest of the country,” M Hafizuddin Ahmed, vice-chairman of the party, said.
On October 8, 2009, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh instituted arbitral proceedings concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and the Republic of India pursuant to Article 287 and Annex VII, Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Permanent Court of Arbitration acts as Registry in this arbitration.
In Hague India was represented by Dr. Neeru Chadha, Joint Secretary & the Legal Advisor, Ministry of External Affairs and Dr. Dipu Moni MP, represented Bangladesh before the Tribunal.
On 7 July 2014, the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (Bangladesh v. India) rendered its Award. The Award establishes the course of the maritime boundary line between Bangladesh and India in the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles. A Member of the Arbitral Tribunal, Dr. Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao, concurred in part and dissented in part with the decision reached by the majority of the Tribunal and attached a separate Concurring and Dissenting Opinion to the Award.
The Members of the Arbitral Tribunal were-Professor Dr. Rüdiger Wolfrum (President), Judge Thomas A. Mensah, Dr. Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao, Professor Ivan Shearer, Judge Jean-Pierre Cot.