Skip to main content

South Asia and the Law of the Sea: Problems and Prospects

  • Chapter
Studies in International Law and History

Part of the book series: Developments in International Law ((DIL))

Abstract

The South Asian region, dominating the northern half of the Indian Ocean and extending from the Persian Gulf to the Straits of Malacca, occupies an important strategic location in an area that has been hotbed of international politics and conflicts for more than two decades. Inhabited by almost one-fifth of the human race in about three percent of the world’s land surface, whose magnitude of deprivation is matched only by their desire to have a place in the sun, all of these countries have emerged from colonial domination after the Second World War. Geographically, besides the seven countries of the Indian subcontinent with common land frontiers — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma—the region includes Sri Lanka and Maldives Islands with common maritime borders with India.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Covering an area of 3.28 million square kilometers (sq.km.), India has a population more than a billion. Bangladesh, the second most populous country in South Asia, has an area of 144,020 sq.km. and a population of 100.59 million. Situated in the Eastern Himalayas and bounded on the east-west and south by India, Bhutan covers an area of 46,600 sq.km. and has a population a little over one million. Pakistan has a total area of 804,000 sq.km. and a population of about 94.93 million. The Republic of Maldives, 400 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, consists of some 2000 low-lying coral islands (only 220 inhabited) covering an area of 298 sq.km. and a population of.195 million. Nepal covers an area of 147,400 sq.km. and has an estimated population of 16.14 million. Sri Lanka, lying south-west of India, has a total area of 65,610 sq.km. and has a population of 16.4 million. See SAARC Perspective, vol. 1, no. 3 (1987); Asia Year Book (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  2. See Emajuddin Ahamad, SAARC: Seeds of Harmony (Dhaka, 1985), pp. 44–45. See table, p. 46. According to another permutation, within South Asia, India is said to account roughly 76 percent of the population; 79 percent GOP; 68 percent of manufacturing exports; 62 percent of the import market; 41 percent of external reserves; 46 percent of the total armed forces; and 72 percent of estimated defense spending/see Iftekharuzzaman, “Bangladesh and SAARC Reflections on the Region and Motivations for Cooperation,” in Muzaffar Ahmad and Abul Kalam (eds.) Bangladesh Foreign Relations: Changes and Directions (Dhaka, 1989), p. 81 (hereafter cited as BFR). Also some 85 percent of the land under permanent cultivation and 70 percent of the irrigated land of the region is in India. See Abul Kalam, “Bangladesh and India: A Perspective of Cooperative Relationship in a Regional Strategic Environment,” in Muzaffar Ahmad and Abul Kalam, BFR, p. 96.

    Google Scholar 

  3. See V. Suryanarayan, “Partners in Progress or Uneasy Coexistence? An Indian View,” The Island (Colombo: July 26, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bangladesh and Pakistan are the eighth and ninth most populous countries in the world. Indeed, except for Bhutan and Maldives, the other nations of the region, including Sri Lanks, and Nepal, by international standards, come within the top 30 percent of the nations of the world. See M.D. Dharamdasani (ed.) Contemporary South Asia (Varanasi, 1985), p. 20.

    Google Scholar 

  5. See Mohammad Iqbal, “SAARC: The Urge for Cooperation in South Asia,” Regional Studiesvol. IV, no. 4 (Islamabad: Autumn 1986), p. 49.

    Google Scholar 

  6. See A.l. Akram, “Security of Small States: Implications for South Asia,” Regional Studies, vol III, n. 3 (Islamabad: Summer 1985), p. 8; hereafter cited as “Security”.

    Google Scholar 

  7. See also A.L Akram, “India and Pakistan: A Glorious Future,” Regional Studies, vol. II, n. 3 (Islamabad: Spring 1984), p. 34.

    Google Scholar 

  8. See Akram, “Security,” p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Iftekharuzzaman, “Bangladesh and SAARC: Reflections on the Region and Motivations for Cooperation,” in Ahmad and Kalam, BFR, p. 79.

    Google Scholar 

  10. See Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, n. 81, March 22, 1956.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Presidential Proclamation of 3 December 1956 in UN Doc., A/Conf 19/5.

    Google Scholar 

  12. The Parliament passed the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act in 1976. See Myron Nordquist, S. Houston Lay, Kenneth R. Simmonds, New Directions in the Law of the Sea, vol. V (London, Oceana Publications, 1986), p. 306. Hereafter cited as New Directions.

    Google Scholar 

  13. U.S. Dept. of State, Office of the Geographer, Limits in the Seas, no. 46, August 12, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  14. See Rama Puri, India and National Jurisdiction in the Sea (New Delhi, 1985), p. 135. Hereafter cited as India and Nat. Jur.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Gazette of India Extraordinary (New Delhi), Part II, Section 3, quoted in Rama Puri India and Nat. Jur., p. 121.

    Google Scholar 

  16. See Rama Puri, India and Nat. Jur., p. 121.

    Google Scholar 

  17. ICJ Reports (1969), p. 22.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Nordquist, New Directions, Article 6(1), p. 308.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ibid., Article 7(1), Maritime Zones Act, p. 310.

    Google Scholar 

  20. See Puri, India and Nat. Jur., p. 135.

    Google Scholar 

  21. See Ted L. McDorman, “Extended Jurisdiction and Ocean Resource Conflict in the Indian Ocean,” International Journal of Estuarine and Coastal Law, 3 (1988): 234. Hereafter cited as “Ext. Jur. and Ocean Resource Conflict.”

    Google Scholar 

  22. See H.N. Siddique and P.S. Rao, “Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the Indian Ocean,” Ocean Development and International Law Journal 19 (1988), pp. 323–35. See also S.P. Jagota, “Recent Developments in the Law of the Sea,” Ocean Yearbook 7 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp. 65 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  23. See Institute of Regional Study, Islamabad, “The Law of the Sea: Its Impacts on Inter-State Relations in South Asia, Spotlight on Regional Affairs, VII (May-June 1988), pp. 5–8, 10–16.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Pakistan earlier claimed seabed extending to 100 fathoms contour and signed the Continental Shelf Convention though it did not ratify it. In 1966, Pakistan claimed 12 miles of exclusive fishing zone and 100 km. of conservation zone. See M. Habibur Rahman, “Delineation of Maritime Boundaries,” Asian Survey 24 (December 1986), pp. 1307. Hereafter cited as “Delineation.”

    Google Scholar 

  25. See The Kutch-Sind Border Question (New Delhi: Indian Society of International Law, 1965).

    Google Scholar 

  26. See R.P. Anand, “The Kutch Award,” in R.P. Anand, Studies in International Adjudication (New Delhi, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  27. See Rahman, n. 24, p. 1306.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Ibid.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Vide UN General Assembly Resolution 3487 (XXX).

    Google Scholar 

  30. See Rahman, n. 24, p 1306.

    Google Scholar 

  31. See Bangladesh’s Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act, 1974 and announcement about maritime zones, Myron Nordquist, S. Houston Lay, Kenneth R. Simmonds, “New Directions,” p. 201 II.

    Google Scholar 

  32. See Rahman, “Delineation,” p. 1311.

    Google Scholar 

  33. See R. Platzoeder, The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: Documents, vol. IV (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1983), pp. 389 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  34. See Manjula Shyam, “Extended Maritime Jurisdiction and its Impact on South Asia,” Ocean Development and International Law, 10 (1981–82), p. 102; hereafter cited as “Extended Jurisdiction.” See also Rahman, “Delineation,” pp. 1312–13.

    Google Scholar 

  35. See Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” p. 102. It is interesting to note that Vietnam is the only country that supported Bangladesh’s claim because, it is said, it was in a similar situation. See Sally McDonald and Victor Prescott, “Baselines along Unstable Coast: An Interpretation of Article 7(2),” Ocean Yearbook 8 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990), p. 74. Hereafter cited as “Baselines.”

    Google Scholar 

  36. See J.R. V. Prescott, The Maritime Political Boundaries of the World (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1985), pp. 163–66; hereafter cited as Maritime Boundaries. See also McDonald and Prescott, “Baselines,” p. 83.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” pp. 100–101.

    Google Scholar 

  38. See Prescott, Maritime Boundaries, p. 176. Recently it was reported that the disputed New Moore or South Talpatty Island was getting smaller and gradually facing extinction following consistent wave action and other natural calamities of the Bay of Bengal. See The Hindu (Madras: December 26, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  39. See UN Doc. A/Conf 62/1.51 and NG 6/5; also Puri, India and Nat Jur., p. 142.

    Google Scholar 

  40. See Annex II to the 1982 Convention.

    Google Scholar 

  41. See Bernard Oxman, “The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: The Eighth Session (1979),” American Journal of International Law 74 (January 1980), pp. 23–33. See also Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” p: 110.

    Google Scholar 

  42. See Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” pp. 104–105; see also U.S. Dept. of State, “Historic Water Boundary: India-Sri Lanka,” Limits in the Seas, no. 66 (December 12, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  43. See 1974 India-Sri Lanka agreement, and their agreement establishing maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Manaar and the Bay of Bengal, U.S. Department of State, Limits in the Sea, no. 77 (February 16, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  44. See Limits in the Sea, no. 77, p. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  45. See for an exhaustive discussion of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, P. Chandrasekhara Rao, The New Law of Maritime Zones; With Special Reference to India’s Maritime Zones (New Delhi, 1983), p. 68.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Ibid., p. 75.

    Google Scholar 

  47. See Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” p. 105.

    Google Scholar 

  48. See S.P. Jagota, Maritime Boundary (Dordrecht: M. Nijhoff, 1985), p. 80.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Some, such as Male, the capital and the only town in the country, are one mile long. Some islands are two or three miles long, but are quite narrow. The largest island in Maldives is Fu Mulaku, which is three-and-one-half by one-and-one-half miles and has a lake in the middle. See Clarence Maloney, People of the Maldive Islands (Bombay: Orient Longman, 1980), pp. 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  50. See Prescott, Maritime Boundaries, p. 161.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Dept. of State, “Maritime Boundary: India, Maldives and Maldives’ Claimed ‘Economic Zone,” Limits in the Sea, no. 78.

    Google Scholar 

  52. See Prescott, Maritime Boundaries, p. 161.

    Google Scholar 

  53. See Prescott, Maritime Boundaries, p. 166; and Kriangsak Kittichaisaree, The Law of the Sea and Maritime Boundary Delimitation in South-East Asia (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. 13–14.

    Google Scholar 

  54. The Gulf is very shallow (between 2 to 5 fathoms deep), because several rivers flow into it, contributing to sediment buildup in the area. Moreover, composed of mud and sand, the mouth of the Rangoon River is very unstable and extends for a distance of about five miles. See Indian Naval Hydrographie Office, Rangoon River to Moubnein (Govt. Printing Office, Map. no. 411, 1985); also U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Rangoon River and Approaches (Govt. Printing Office, Map. no. 63413, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  55. See Prescott, Maritime Boundaries, p. 176.

    Google Scholar 

  56. See Ted L. McDorman, “Ext. Jur. and Ocean Resource Conflict,” n. 21, p. 217.

    Google Scholar 

  57. U.S. Dept. of State, “Maritime Boundary: Burma-Thailand,” Limits in the Sea, no. 102 (January 30, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  58. Statement by the delegate of Nepal, 191st Meeting, Dec. 1982, para 8, p. 101.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Ibid., paras. 112 and 14, p. 109. See also “The Law of the Sea: Its Impact in Inter-State Relations in South Asia,” Spotlight on Regional Affairs (Islamabad, May- June 1988), pp. 11 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  60. See Shyam, “Extended Jurisdiction,” pp. 106–107.

    Google Scholar 

  61. See McDorman, “Ext. Jur. and Ocean Resource Conflict,” n. 21, p. 213.

    Google Scholar 

  62. See India, The United States and the Indian Ocean, Report of the In do-American Task Force on the Indian Ocean (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment, 1985), p. 92.

    Google Scholar 

  63. McDorman, “Ext. Jur. and Ocean Resource Conflict,” n. 21, p. 214.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 R.P. Anand

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Anand, R.P. (2004). South Asia and the Law of the Sea: Problems and Prospects. In: Studies in International Law and History. Developments in International Law. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5600-6_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5600-6_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-04-13859-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-5600-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics