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Home/Current Affairs/India’s Extended Continental Shelf Claim

India’s Extended Continental Shelf Claim

28 Apr 2025

India’s Extended Continental Shelf Claim

India has expanded its maritime claim by about 10,000 sq. km in the Central Arabian Sea.

  • India submitted a modified claim to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to avoid a dispute with Pakistan while strengthening strategic rights.

About India’s Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Claim 

  • First Submission: 2009 (Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea).
  • Pakistan’s Objection (2021): About 100 nautical miles overlap near the Sir Creek area (Rann of Kutch).
  • CLCS Response: In March 2023, rejected India’s earlier Arabian Sea claim. However, it allowed submission of modified claims.
  • New Submission (April 2025):
    • Split into two partial claims in the Western Arabian Sea.
    • Increase: Additional 10,000 sq.km.
    • Objective: Secure uncontested areas and defer disputed ones.

Significance

  • Strategic Importance: Boosts strategic influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). India’s total seabed and sub-seabed rights would become almost equal to India’s land area (3.274 million sq.km).
  • Economic Benefits: Right to mine valuable minerals, polymetallic nodules, and oil and gas reserves.
  • Geopolitical Strength: Enhances India’s Blue Economy ambitions.

About Sir Creek

Extended Continental Shelf Claim

  • It is a 96-km-long tidal estuary.
  • Location:  Extends into the Arabian Sea, roughly dividing:
    • Sindh province (Pakistan) and
    • Kutch region (Gujarat, India).
  • Sir Creek Boundary Dispute: Dispute traces back to post-1947 partition and differing interpretations of the 1914 agreement between the Sindh Government (British India) and the Kutch rulers.
  • India’s Position: Advocates settlement based on the Thalweg Principle (international maritime law principle).
    • Thalweg Principle: Boundary should be drawn along the midline of the navigable channel of the river/creek.
  • Pakistan’s Position: Argues that Sir Creek is non-navigable. Hence, the Thalweg Principle does not apply.

PW OnlyIAS Extra Edge

United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS): 

  • Established Under:  United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.
  • Mandate:
    • To facilitate the implementation of Article 76 of UNCLOS related to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
    • To consider and make recommendations on submissions made by coastal states concerning the outer limits of their continental shelf.
    • Does NOT settle disputes: Disputes between states must be resolved bilaterally or through other international mechanisms (not by CLCS).
    • Settlement Basis: Coastal states can fix their continental shelf limits based on CLCS recommendations, which become final and binding.

Maritime Zones

Maritime Zone Extent Rights
Territorial Sea 12 nautical miles (from baseline) Full sovereignty
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 200 nautical miles Rights to fishing, mining, oil exploration
Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Beyond EEZ up to natural prolongation limit (scientifically proven) Rights over seabed resources (not water column)

Extended Continental Shelf Claim

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