Booty On The High Seas

What makes these gains all the more significant is the fact that whenever it is effected and to whatever extent it is affected by the UN’s commission on sea laws, India could gain a foothold in the oil-rich Gulf. If India’s claim of 350 nautical miles off its shoreline is accepted, it would take its EEZ right up to the doorsteps of both Oman and Yemen, touching Carlsberg Ridge a little southwards. "Once there, we don’t want to rule out the strong possibility of India striking oil in its EEZ," says a senior official. To an oil-guzzling nation, that’s great news.

Prior to the UN-sponsored International Law of Seas in 1982, it was all confusion. In the absence of any system, coastal countries were content with ‘cannon-shot-distance’ territorial waters as their exclusive zones. As for the rest of the seas, a country’s muscle power was the sole criterion of demarcation. As the then UN undersecretary-general Bernardo Zuleta put it: "For coastal states to gain economic benefit from areas further off their shores, it was necessary for them to extend their territorial waters, thus eliminating all freedom of the high seas in the annexed areas. This imposed upon the interests of other maritime states in that customary law permitted a territorial sea of only three miles breadth, and that anything beyond that entailed abridgement of their freedom."

So the UN stepped in. Four conventions covering high seas, territorial seas, continental shelf and living resources were adopted in 1958. It was the beginning of a long-and not always smooth-negotiation among member states. The law was sent for ratification on December 10, 1982.

When proceedings began, the UN decided it would adopt a consensus-based approach. But ballots became imperative soon for talks to progress. Having failed to forge a consensus on issues like fishing and mining, the UN put the final Act to vote in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where 130 countries voted in favour, 4 against, while 17 abstained.

Those who voted against or abstained included the more developed countries which suspected that the law-with 320 articles and 9 annexes covering all aspects of ocean space from delimitation to economic and commercial activities-was tilted towards the developing countries.

Though adopted and signed in 1982, the sea law was ratified by India only in June 1995, the delay largely due to global and regional pacts having to be sewn up. Meanwhile, it continued to enjoy sovereign rights over sea waters 200 nautical miles off its shorelines.

That was Act I of the play. Act II is now on. It’s here that India is eyeing major gains. Article 76 of the law states: "The coastal state shall establish the outer edge of the continental margin wherever the same extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured." It further adds: "On submarine ridges, the continental shelf’s outer limit shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of territorial sea is measured."

India, under this clause, will gain an additional EEZ of 0.7 to 0.9 million sq km. The article allocates additional EEZs calculated on the basis of sediments deposited by inland waters which are considered ‘natural prolongation’ of a country’s landed territory. India’s gains here have been boosted by the Ganges, regarded as one of the biggest depositors of sediments in the world.

But it is Annex II, which is an exception, that may spell an even bigger bonanza. Aimed at compensating states whose shares were not on an equitable base, the provision says: "The conference requests the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf...to be governed by the terms of this Statement when making its recommendations on matters related to the establishment of the outer edge of the continental margins of these States in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal." And there are only two countries in the southern part of Bay of Bengal who benefit from it: Sri Lanka and India.

Since this exceptional provision is inescapably linked with Sri Lanka, India is, therefore, waiting anxiously for Colombo to present its claim first. For India, it is a question of an additional one million sq km of marine territory.

India’s deadline to stake its claim before the UN body concerned is 2005. But it’s rushing with its homework and may file papers by the end of the year. "Before submitting our claim, we have to back it up with sound technical studies," says Muthunayagam. "Studies on measuring sediments, their slopes and contour are nearing completion," he adds. Next on the agenda is the seismic study, an expensive proposition with costs hovering around $400 per line km. "We are moving at a fair clip" says the DOD secretary.

The process was speeded up recently when the prime minister, in a meeting with DOD officials, asked them to ‘go full steam ahead’. A host of other agencies like the ONGC, which has in its possession a rich seismological database, are chipping in. The legal angle is being handled by a lawyers’ team headed by the attorney general. Highly-placed sources say India doesn’t anticipate problems with its claim. Some nuisance, however, may be created by a ‘neighbouring country’.

It’s a different story altogether that despite having such a vast EEZ under its control, India is nowhere near exploiting it fully. "We are now fishing only in the 20 nautical miles zone," admits Muthunayagam. A fact amply reflected in India’s annual fish catch. In the last decade, while inland fish catch has grown steadily, offshore output has remained stagnant.

The neglect of sea wealth is largely attributed to the natural preference for landed resources. "Only when we have reached a peak on shore will we turn our attention to offshore resources. Moreover, it is the age of technology. As our technology is improving, our area of exploitation of sea resources is also expanding," says a DOD official.

This is precisely what has prompted many to describe the impending gain in the seas as the ‘gain for the future generation’. "The present generation may not be able to cover the entire existing and also the freshly added EEZ but the important thing is that we will have the area available for the next generations. And there is no harm in acquiring as much land as is legitimately possible even though we may not cultivate it in near future," says the DOD secretary.

Future perfect for GeneratioNext.