Honorable Khan Sahib
Regret to point out that no country can unilaterally extend its territorial waters or exclusive economic zone simply because other countries will not accept it.
Law applicable on high seas has evolved over the centuries and after many discussions among the sovereign nations. Unites Nation has done sterling working by bringing 150 nations together in 1982 and getting them to accept it.
“United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS)
This convention resolved many important issues related to rights over the oceans such as:
- Setting territorial sea boundaries 12 miles offshore
- Setting exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles offshore
- Setting rules for extending continental shelf rights up to 350 miles offshore
- Creating the International Seabed Authority
- Creating other conflict-resolution mechanisms (e.g., the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf)
In 2014 and the international Code for ships operating in the Polar waters (Polar Code) was also agreed.
According to this Convention over the territorial sea, foreign aircraft do not have automatic flyover rights, alien fishing or other resource extraction rights do not exist, and there is no right to conduct marine scientific research without the coastal State’s permission. Innocent passage for merchant ships is allowed.
“The concept of ‘innocent passage’ through the territorial sea is derived from Articles 18 and 19 of the 1982 Convention and it means the continuous and expeditious transit, through territorial waters or internal waters, en route to or from the high seas, in a manner which does not prejudice the peace, good order, and security of the coastal State”
“Passage is not innocent when a vessel makes use of the territorial sea of the Coastal States for the purpose of doing any act prejudicial to the security, to the public policy or to the fiscal interest of that State.”32 The coastal State has the right to prevent passage which is not innocent
Convention ( Article 55), “Gives coastal States the right to establish an exclusive economic zone which may extend upon to 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (Article 57). The establishment of this zone gives the coastal State considerable sovereign rights with respect to the living and non-living resources, and “with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from water, currents, and winds”
http://www.un.org/depts/los/nippon/...llows_pages/fellows_papers/adi_0809_syria.pdf