New Delhi – Strong protest by Bangladesh notwithstanding, Burma will continue exploration of gas in the Bay of Bengal, a Burmese foreign ministry official was quoted by Associated Press as saying.
"We will not stop exploration activities, which are inside Myanmar [Burma] waters," the official said. Instead he said Burma has officially lodged a complaint with Bangladesh for sending naval ships into Burmese territorial waters.
The Bangladesh Ambassador to Burma has been summoned to the country's new jungle capital Naypyitaw to convey the Burmese government's protest, the official added.
"We have warned Bangladesh against intrusion of their naval vessels into our territory," the AP quoted the official as saying.
Burma's claim that Bangladeshi naval vessels are encroaching on its territorial waters came following Bangladesh's protest against Burma's gas exploration activities in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday.
Bangladesh's Foreign Advisor on Sunday summoned the Burmese envoy to convey its protest against gas exploration by Burmese ships, saying the exploration areas fall under Bangladesh's maritime zone.
"It will be our endeavour to settle the issue diplomatically," Bangladesh's Foreign Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said. "But let it also be understood that we will do all it takes to protect our sovereignty."
Chowdhury said Dhaka has also urged Burma to immediately withdraw its ships and stop exploration activities until the maritime boundary dispute is resolved, adding that a Bangladesh Naval patrol is monitoring the disputed area.
But the Burmese envoy to Bangladesh, Phe Thann Oo, in an interview with the Washington based radio station Voice of America Burmese Service said, Burmese vessels have not encroached into Bangladesh's territorial waters.
"We are not encroaching. The gas exploration is being conducted well within our economic zone," Phe Thann Oo told the VOA Burmese Service.
The Burmese envoy said though the two countries differ on each other's claim, "We are discussing it through diplomatic channels to resolve the issue."
Bangladesh on Tuesday sent a three-member delegation led by Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain to Burma to defuse the tension. Both countries have also agreed to hold talks in Dhaka on the delimitation of maritime boundaries between the two countries from December 16 to17.
