Bangladesh Military prepares for a WAR against Myanmar

[MBI Munshi]

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Myanmar says Daewoo will continue exploration

Daewoo International Corp. has completed its oil and gas exploration in contested waters in the Bay of Bengal and will drill elsewhere, Myanmar state-controlled media said Sunday, disputing Bangladesh's claim that the company backed out after it complained about the activities.

Tension flared between the two countries a week ago when Bangladesh accused Myanmar of sending several ships — apparently for prospecting — into a contested area believed to contain hydrocarbon reserves.

The dispute surfaced after South Korea's Daewoo, which was awarded exploration rights by Myanmar, started formal explorations in September. Bangladesh protested the move, saying Myanmar was intruding into its waters.

Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry said Friday it had received a letter from Daewoo saying the company had started dismantling its oil and gas equipment.

The Myanmar government, which often makes official announcements in state-controlled media, appeared to issue a rebuttal through the Myanma Ahlin and other newspapers on Sunday.

The reports said Daewoo had "successfully conducted oil and gas exploration" in the disputed area known as block AD-7 and moved its equipment when the work was done. Drilling machinery was shifted on Saturday to another block, called A-3, that is estimated to hold 6 trillion cubic feet (170 billion cubic meters) of gas, the Myanma Ahlin said.

The Myanmar government has given the South Korean company exploration rights for a total of three areas in the Bay of Bengal and the activities will "continue as planned," the newspaper said.

Attempts to contact Daewoo International offices in Seoul and Myanmar were not immediately successful Sunday.

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, foreign affairs adviser to Bangladesh's government, said Sunday his government hopes Myanmar will suspend all exploration until the sea border dispute is resolved "peacefully between friendly neighbors."

Bangladesh placed its border guards on alert Saturday because of reports that neighboring Myanmar was amassing troops following the breakdown of talks on the oil and gas exploration dispute, said A.K.M. Nurul Bahar, a top border guard official. He would not give further details.

Bangladesh shares a 170-mile (275-kilometer) land border with Myanmar.

Military-ruled Myanmar has rejected demands by Bangladesh that it halt exploration in disputed areas of the Bay of Bengal as "unlawful and wrong."

The two sides are engaged in long-standing talks to agree on their maritime border, with the next session scheduled for Nov. 16-17 in Dhaka.

Myanmar says Daewoo will continue exploration - International Herald Tribune

[p2prada]

India might be playing an active role in this conflict ofcrse.. To destroy and weaken both the countries and later it will be easier to access their oil reserves.

LOL. More conspiracy theories. But what else can I expect???

[Vinod2070]

India might be playing an active role in this conflict ofcrse.. To destroy and weaken both the countries and later it will be easier to access their oil reserves.

Is there a limit to the paranoia of some here!

Guess not. It might be your uncle China doing that who is the main patron of both these countries and is the main weapon supplier to both. May be to make some extra money from both.

After all, they are the pig eating Godless communist kaffirs. Now, aren't they?

[MBI Munshi]

India is making a similar claim on another block belonging to Bangladesh. Bangladesh should aggressively assert its rights and if it means war then so be it. Of course if we head for conflict with Myanmar the elections for December are probably off.

[Vinod2070]

^^ I hope all those spoiling for war actually go to the front lines and face the bullets.

Why do I get the feeling most of them are armchair warriors looking for cheap thrills when the people of their country will face all the difficulties!

[MBI Munshi]

That statement would probably apply if the people you mention did not reside in Bangladesh. Its just makes Indians nervous that Bangladesh is taking an aggressive stance. Under the circumstances Bangladesh would be fully entitled to raise its defence budget. This is probably what worries India.

[MBI Munshi]

Myanmar, Daewoo pull back

Dhaka, Nov 9 (bdnews24.com) – Myanmar has pulled out vessels from the disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal where it had been drilling for oil and gas and the vessels are patrolling inside their seawaters, the foreign adviser has said.

He said the South Korean industrial giant, which was awarded oil and gas exploration by Myanmar, also started dismantling their installations for the offshore exploration.

"Myanmar vessels have left the disputed waters and are staying in their waters," adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told bdnews24.com on Sunday at his office.

The adviser said Daewoo had responded to Bangladesh's protests and had been suspending their operations.

"We have heard from the ground that Daewoo has begun the process of dismantling their installations and removing rigs," the adviser said.

"Naturally, we are pleased with this development."

The adviser said Dhaka was keen to peacefully resolve the issue with the neighbour.

"At the same time, we will protect our sovereign interests," he said.

Foreign ministry sources said Myanmar's ruling junta awarded Daewoo the contract secretly in 2005. There was no open bidding for the contract, they said.

"Daewoo did not know that the site was in the disputed waters. The company first came to know about it when Bangladesh protested the exploration," an official, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to brief the media, told bdnews24.com.

He said according to international practices, international companies do not go for exploration works in the disputed waters.

Sending protest letters to the South Korean government was a good move that influenced Daewoo's withdrawal, he said.

Tension flared between Bangladesh and its southwest neighbour last week over Yangon's oil and gas exploration activities in the Bay of Bengal, some 60 nautical miles south of Saint Martin's Island.

The area is claimed both by Bangladesh and the reclusive Myanmar.

According to an agreement, both the countries committed not to go for oil and gas exploration in the disputed waters until the disagreement was resolved through negotiation as per the United Nations laws.

A Myanmar delegation is due in Dhaka soon to continue the sea boundary delimitation talks that resumed in April this year after a pause of 22 years.

bdnews24.com/krc/bd/1648hours

<font color=red size=6>Myanmar, Daewoo pull back</font> :: Bangladesh :: bdnews24.com ::

[MBI Munshi]

Deal with Myanmar first.

We are doing just that.

Nevertheless the claims by Myanmar should allow Bangladesh policy makers to reconsider their position on defence matters.

For long the Indian argument has been that BD does not need a strong defence because it could only be directed against India. Myanmar's actions clearly show there are other threats facing BD.

[Neo]

If it comes to a full conflict, what alliance can we expect? China is main supplier of military hardware to both Myanmar and Bangladesh and will probably halt supplies to both governments and use her weight to end the conflict.

India however is different story, will she side up with Myanmar?

[su-47]

If it comes to a full conflict, what alliance can we expect? China is main supplier of military hardware to both Myanmar and Bangladesh and will probably halt supplies to both governments and use her weight to end the conflict.

India however is different story, will she side up with Myanmar?

I doubt whether china and india will do anything other than use diplomacy to try prevent war. Neither will want to get mixed up in a conflict.

[Neo]

I doubt whether china and india will do anything other than use diplomacy to try prevent war. Neither will want to get mixed up in a conflict.

What if the conflict leads to scores of civilians fleing to India? Will India still opt for diplomacy?

[MBI Munshi]

If it comes to a full conflict, what alliance can we expect? China is main supplier of military hardware to both Myanmar and Bangladesh and will probably halt supplies to both governments and use her weight to end the conflict.

India however is different story, will she side up with Myanmar?

It is possible that India would want to provoke a war to distract Bangladesh from Indian claims on another exploration block.

India may also think that a war between the two would pull Bangladesh away from China.

If a war broke out the US would probably intercede on Bangladesh's behalf. This may not be liked by either India or China. Since India is now aligned with the US it would be more detrimental to China.

[MBI Munshi]

What if the conflict leads to scores of civilians fleing to India? Will India still opt for diplomacy?

I doubt that Myanmar could inflict that much damage to create a refugee situation moving out of BD into India.

[Vinod2070]

It seems Bangladesh is trying to bully the cute little Myanmar because it is much bigger than it's little neighbor.

[Neo]

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It seems Bangladesh is trying to bully the cute little Myanmar because it is much bigger than it's little neighbor.

Imho BD like any other small or big country has a valid issue to defend her SEZ.