Sea bed rights” :

Sri Lanka to merge with Andaman Islands

Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Parliament that the Indian owned Andaman Islands will come within the area that Sri Lanka hopes to make a claim to as part of its sea bed rights, to the UN Commission on the limits of the continental shelf.

The Minister said that the Government will discuss with India on this issue before making the final submissions to the UN Commission.

The Minister was responding to a question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake about Sri Lanka’s claim for its sea bed rights.

He said that Sri Lanka’s legal continental shelf submission is approximately around 25 times the size of the country’s land mass (1,725,800 square kilometres of the sea bed area).

However, the precise outer limit will be determined on the basis of technical and scientific data provided in Sri Lanka’s submission to the UN Commission.

He said that Sri Lanka’s submission is likely to be taken up for consideration by the Commission around 2025.

The Minister also said that many State parties including Sri Lanka has expressed dissatisfaction at the long delay in the scheduling of the UN Commission hearing.