Sir Creek | A marshland of contention

Sir Creek is a 96 km long Golden Horn between Kutch in Gujarat and Sindh of Pakistan. A muddy, deserted swamp flowing into the Arab Sea in Kutch’s ran. He was once known as Ban Ganga, and in the colonial periods, he was renamed Sir Creek after a British officer.

The dispute on this field is based on the British period. Throughout time, the whole region was part of the Presidency of Bombay, including today’s Mahashtra, Gujarat and Sindh. After being divided in 1947, Sindh became a part of Pakistan, Kutch remained with India. The core of the dispute is where to draw the limit.

Pakistan claims the boundaries that effectively placed the 1914 Bombay government decision on the Green Line-Sindh throughout the Eastern Bank. India argues for the mid -channel principle supported by the 1925 map and the internationally accepted Thalweg principle, which says that the border between the two countries sharing a traveling water path should work along the deepest channel. India argues that Sir Creek has become traveling during the high tide and thus the border should pass. Pakistan insists that the creek is not visited by objection.

Economic value

Although the military value of the creek itself is very small, it has a great economic importance. The definition of the international border in Sir Creek has a direct impact on the limitation of exclusive economic regions (EEZs) of both countries in the Arab Sea. Beyond the regional waters of a nation, the EEZs dates back to 200 nautical miles (370.4 km), where they have judicial authority on living and inanimate sources.

In addition to EEZs, the control over the stream will affect the limitation of maritime boundaries, including continental shelves, which are very important for the discovery of oil and gas. Both of the region are believed to have reserves and fishing rights are also sensitive. Fishermen from both countries are usually accidentally passed and arrested.

The Gulf of Kutch is home to Mundra and Kandla, two of the big ports of India. In addition, Kutch Rann’s Chinese -supported mining and energy projects on the Pakistan side expressed concerns that civilian projects in India could turn into strategic or military assets.

In recent months, the problem has seen that the problem shone again. Between 8 and May 8, Pakistan, including Drona in 36 locations, including the Sir Creek region, tried to target military facilities with Drona and violated the Indian airspace. Intelligence reports emphasized the heavy Pakistani military activities near the creek. At the same time, the Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir threatened strikes that were not far from the region against an oil refinery in Jamnagar.

Against this background, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh warned Pakistan that a road to Karachi passed through Sir Creek ,, during a visit on October 2, and reminded that India would progress close to Islamabad on 1965. India, while trying to solve the dispute through dialogue, stressed that Pakistan’s intentions remained suspicious. He said that any act of aggression would invite a strong reaction to “both history and geography”.

Survival officers familiar with Sir Creek’s land, says that large -scale ground attacks in this swamp, corrupt and deserted area are almost impossible. Infiltrators have been caught in the past, but today the greater challenge comes from UAVs and drones that can target the critical infrastructure, such as ports and refineries in EEZ. Sir Creek dispute is no longer not only about border lines, but also on energy security, maritime rights and the risk of united strategic pressure from Pakistan and China.

The border in Sir Creek and the sea line between India and Pakistan were not solved. In January 2007, a common hydrographic research followed negotiations in Islamabad in May 2007, where both sides changed maps and agreed to continue the negotiations. The data could not solve the basic dispute on the location of the border. After the 1972 Simla agreement, it is not possible for a third party to intervene.