Sri Lanka to study Maldives submission on continental shelf – Sri Lankan media

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

The Sri Lankan government is studying the request put forward by the Maldives to the UN seeking an expansion of its continental shelf to see whether the area demarcated by the Maldives would overlap the sea area demarcated by Sri Lanka in a similar request to the world body.

Officials from the Legal Division of the Foreign Ministry told Daily Mirror online that a technical team had been appointed by the Sri Lankan government to study the area demarcated to verify whether the two demarcated areas overlap and, if they do, to resort to a dialogue with the Maldivian government.

A report on the findings is also expected to be handed over to the Foreign Ministry Secretary soon.

The Maldives have asked for 168,000 square kilometres off the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country as its extended continental shelf, its Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said.

The Maldives filed a case at the UN on 26 July 2010 requesting 148,000 square kilometres in the north and 20,000 square kilometers in the west.

The extended continental shelf claimed by the Maldives clashes with the portion claimed by neighbouring Sri Lanka last year. Dr Shaheed, however, expressed the hope that the disputes “over a small area” would be resolved through dialogue.

“I believe that we will find a solution through negotiations soon, as the Maldives and Sri Lanka have always maintained close relations,” he said.

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