DHAKA: Government has been paying attention to extract its maritime resources since the country’s settlement of maritime boundaries with India and Myanmar.

As Bangladesh lacks efficiency and capability in the sector, it approached China in these efforts long before. However, China was not responding.

But, China woke up after signing Bangladesh’s deal with India on the issue. Now, the country has expressed its interest in signing a maritime cooperation agreement with Bangladesh.

On June 10, China sent documents for a MoU on maritime cooperation just three days after India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh.

In this regard, a foreign ministry senior official said they have received an offer from China on marine cooperation agreement. A deal can be signed with China as of an agreement signed with India. Once the deal is signed, it will be easy to extract marine resources, the official added.

Adding different factors, including the increase of efficiency and capacity to extract marine resources, tsunami and storm forecasts and fishing, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India was signed in the presence of Prime Minister of India on June 6 for joint research on oceanography of the Bay of Bengal.

However, Bangladesh and China have chalked out a variety of programs this year, including high-level exchange of visits and marking 40 years of diplomatic relations, said sources concerned.

As part of the programs, China Prime Minister Li Keqiang is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in September.

Preparations are also going on to sign several agreements, including maritime cooperation, between two countries during the tour.

After settlement of maritime disputes with India and Myanmar through legal battle, Bangladesh’s sovereignty has been established on 1.18 lakh square kilometer area in the Bay of Bengal.

BDST: 1447 HRS, JUN 14, 2015
RS/RR/SMS