Bangladeshs Maritime Policy

Following successive international legal verdicts, Bangladesh is now an accredited maritime state. Possessing a spacious territorial sea and an extended continental shelf, with a maritime zone almost equalling its land borders, a window of opportunity has opened for the country to realise its developmental aspirations. Yet, it faces numerous challenges, many of which are entwined. This book is a detailed analysis of Bangladeshs maritime strategy. It charts the countrys maritime legacies, including disputes with both Myanmar and India and analyses the contributions of the leadership in the maritime territorial gains. The author examines Bangladeshs need to consolidate these newly reclaimed gains, whilst exploring the unremitting interest of major global power players in maintaining maritime resource exploitation, navigation and security. Finally, the author demonstrates how the country needs to embrace the notional principles of sustainable development of its ocean economy to utilize its resources and how it has since been coming to grips with the emerging concept of "blue economy" to enhance its enduring national development. The first systematic study on Bangladeshs maritime policy and the countrys importance in the emerging geopolitical rivalry in the Indian Ocean, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of South Asian and Indian Ocean politics.