Maungdaw, Burma. The Burmese military junta continues with its troop build up along the Burma-Bangladesh border though tension has eased after its warships withdrew from the disputed oil and gas exploration area in the Bay of Bengal, said an aide of Nasaka (Burma's border security force) in Maungdaw town.

On November 17, about 360 soldiers were sent to border areas in trucks from Buthidaung Township. They are from Battalion No. 132 and 135 of Buthidaung Township. They reached at Fokira Bazaar of Maungdaw Township at around 5 pm.

The two-day, Bangladesh and Burma maritime boundary talks ended yesterday with no fruitful result as there is a disagreement on drawing the boundary line on the waters of the Bay of Bengal. The two sides remained rigid on their stance on the methodology to be used for delimitation.

Therefore, people believe that Burma will deploy troops until and unless a solution for the disputed maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal is found.

Bangladesh has also deployed BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) personnel accompanied by army troops in the border areas as retaliation.

Though border trade is open between Maungdaw and Teknaf, goods export from Burma to Bangladesh has fallen.

When asked people inside Arakan, many people believe that the maritime problem will not be resolved easily, it will take time and is very difficult problem. ##