Diplomatic Correspondent :
The government on Saturday summoned the Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka and lodged a protest over its deliberate attempt to show St Martin’s as their territory.
Rear Admiral (Retd) M Khurshed Alam, Secretary for Maritime Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, handed over a strong worded protest note to Myanmar Ambassador Lwin Oo in his office on Saturday.
The ambassador arrived at the Foreign Ministry office at 1pm and left at 2pm.
The Foreign Ministry sources said that Khurshed Alam told the Myanmar envoy, there is no doubt that St Martin has been part and parcel of Bangladesh for years. So, how could they (Myanmar) claim St Martin’s Island as part of their territory? It’s a deliberate attempt to destroy regional peace.”
He reportedly asked the Myanmar envoy why did the Myanmar government conduct a survey in St Martin’s Island. “You cannot do it. On what basis you did it?”
The Myanmar ambassador admitted the development saying that it was a mistake to show St Martin’s as their territory, a diplomat said.
The Myanmar envoy pledged to discuss the matter with his government and convey Dhaka’s concerns.
Sources said, Myanmar updated its map on the official website of the Department of Population, dop.gov.mm, and another website, themimu.info, in a way showing that the Saint Martin’s Island is part of its territory.
They used similar colour for both Myanmar and the Saint Martin’s Island. Bangladesh has been shown in black colour.
Clicking the Saint Martin’s Island, one can get the detailed information about the population of that area which is also similar to Myanmar. Nothing can be seen on the Bangladesh map.
“When we asked, the ambassador said, it ‘may be a mistake’.”
“But we consider this as a deliberate attempt to divert the attention from the ongoing Rohingya crisis.”
The Bangladesh government asked the ambassador to find out how it happened.
It may be mentioned that the Saint Martin’s Island was never a part of Myanmar if anyone looks back at the history since 1937.
The Island has been part of British India when Myanmar was divided in 1937. After the India-Pakistan partition, it was with the then East Pakistan. Then after independence it became part of Bangladesh. The first maritime boundary agreement with Myanmar was concluded in 1974.
Even when Bangladesh won the maritime boundary dispute against Myanmar through International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in March 2017, it was clearly mentioned that the island is part of Bangladesh.
