The Hindu : International : ``Joint survey of Sir Creek completed ahead of schedule''

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005

International

International

``Joint survey of Sir Creek completed ahead of schedule''

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 17. India and Pakistan have ``successfully and expeditiously'' completed the joint survey of the Sir Creek area.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Masood Khan, told a weekly news conference here that the survey, which commenced on January 5, was completed before schedule.

``The teams co-operated with each other and completed the task successfully and expeditiously. Survey officials in both the countries are now busy preparing a joint statement,'' he said.

Eight teams

Mr. Khan said the two countries had deployed eight teams each for the survey of the horizontal segment of the creek. Experts from both sides will examine the joint statement and discuss it in the next round of talks between the experts.

The decision to carry out the joint survey was made at the last meeting between the two sides in the third week of December here. Sir Creek is part of the eight-point agenda of the Composite Dialogue process.

The disputed Sir Creek, which runs along Rann of Kutch in India and Sindh in Pakistan, is at the centre of a 22-year-old dispute between the two countries

Both sides believe the survey results will be very useful in resolution of the dispute related to demarcation of boundary in Sir Creek, a 60-mile-long strip of water between the Rann of Kutch (in India) and Sindh (in Pakistan).

Boundary demarcation

The demarcation of boundary has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for several decades. Eight rounds of talks held so far have not helped resolve the differences. The history of the issue dates back to 1914, when an agreement was signed between the then Government of Sindh and Rao Maharaj of Kutch. According to the agreement, both sides agreed to a boundary line running through the middle of the creek as a border between the two States.

The final demarcation was completed in 1925 in which the boundary was shown by a ``green line'', depicted on the eastern side of the creek.

One side of the creek is under Pakistan's control whereas there are naval installations of India on the other side. Pakistan claims that all the 17 creeks of Sindh coast belong to it while India maintains that almost half of the area of Sir Creek, the seventeenth one, belongs to it.

The Indian contention is that the ``green line'' was simply an indicative line, and the boundary line should be defined by ``mid-channel'' of the creek as shown on the map of 1925. But Pakistan rejects the Indian view on the grounds that the notion of ``mid-channel'' is applicable only to navigable channels while this channel is not a navigable one.

Maritime boundary

India has proposed that pending formalisation of the boundary in Sir Creek, the two sides could consider the delimitation of the India-Pakistan maritime boundary from seawards, by commencing at the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) limit and proceeding landwards up to a mutually acceptable limit as per provisions under technical aspects of law of sea (TALOS).

The seaward approach is based on internationally-accepted principles and will benefit both countries for exploitation of resources.

The issue gains importance in view of continental shelf claims to be submitted by 2004 to the United Nations.

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