Daewoo withdrawing from Bay: adviser
Dhaka, Nov 6 (bdnews24.com) Daewoo, the Korean construction giant that got the contract from Myanmar to explore oil and gas in the disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal, suspended work late Thursday, the foreign adviser has told bdnews24.com.
"According to information received from government sources of the Republic of Korea, the Daewoo-Myanmar Company has already initiated the process of withdrawal of the installation placed in areas claimed by Bangladesh as her territorial waters," Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in the evening.
"This is indeed good news, if true, and would mean that our initiatives have paid off," he said.
The adviser talked to the South Korean ambassador to try to persuade Daewoo to leave the disputed waters.
Dhaka also turned to China, which has huge influence over Myanmar, a reclusive country run by the military junta since early 1960s, to make it to agree to stop the exploration.
Iftekhar said on Thursday he had received a letter from Daewoo company which stated that the dismantling process had begun and it might take a few days to complete.
"Of course we have goodwill for Myanmar, a close neighbour, but critical national interests have to be protected," the adviser said.
A high-powered Bangladesh delegation, headed by foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain, on Thursday had talks with his Myanmar counterpart in its capital Yangon to that suspend the exploration.
The adviser said a high-level meeting, chaired by the chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, in the evening underscored Bangladesh's "strong resolve".
Foreign and home advisers, the chiefs of armed forces, and other senior civil and military officers attended the meeting.
Bangladesh and Myanmar were in a "crisis" over the exploration of oil and gas in the disputed waters, some 60 nautical miles off the Saint Martin's Island, in the Bay of Bengal.
As per an agreement, the two countries pledged not to carry out oil and gas exploration in the disputed waters until the disagreement was resolved.
But Myanmar awarded Daewoo the contract prompting Dhaka to send frigates to the area.
A technical delegation, headed by a deputy minister of Myanmar, will arrive in Dhaka to continue sea boundary delimitation talks on Nov 16 and 17.
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