Agency

A bilateral committee tasked with redrawing the maritime border between Bangladesh and Myanmar met Monday at the state guesthouse Padma for the first such talks in 21 years.

Additional secretary to the foreign affairs ministry MAK Mahmood led the Bangladesh delegation, while Commodore Maung Oo Lwin headed the Myanmar team to the two-day talks.

The meeting comes in the wake of increasing concern from Bangladesh over the exact location of its maritime border with the Southeast Asian neighbour as environmental factors increasingly impact the situation.

The last meeting on the issue between the two countries took place in 1986. Prior to that, Bangladesh and Myanmar discussed their mutual sea border eight times between 1974 and 1986.

"The Bangladesh side will strongly present its rationale for the delimitation of the sea border to try and resolve the issue," the foreign ministry said in a statement Monday.

The military government in Myanmar responded positively to Mahmood's request to discuss the matter during his visit to Yangon last January.