1. This arbitration, concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India in the Bay of Bengal, has raised many issues, including the interpretation of legal principles concerning the law of maritime delimitation. The Tribunal’s mandate included the determination of the land boundary terminus, the selection of suitable base points for the purpose of delimitation, the selection of the appropriate method or methods of delimitation, the identification of relevant coasts and the maritime area to be delimited, and the identification of relevant circumstances for the delimitation of the continental shelf, in particular for areas beyond 200 nm.1

2. I happily concur with my colleagues in the Tribunal on the determination of the land boundary terminus, the delimitation of the territorial sea, and the identification of suitable base points for the construction of a provisional equidistance line in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.

3. I also concur with the decision to reject the angle bisector method as a basis to delimit the maritime area within 200 nm and the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. Bangladesh could not offer any compelling reason2 to dispense with the otherwise standard three-stage method, which relies on the establishment of a provisional equidistance line that is open to adjustment if “relevant circumstances”3 so require “in order to achieve an equitable solution”.4