Whoever controls this area gets access to key sea routes.
New Delhi: It is going to be eight decades within no time, and India and Pakistan are still struggling to get rid of the monkeys off their backs that were laden with insane precision by the ruling entity before they left with freedom and partition. Right from the Radcliffe Line by Cyril Radcliffe, to the Sir Creek tidal estuary, both being planted between India and Pakistan.
The India-Pakistan Sir Creek border dispute is a long-standing one, stemming from the demarcation “from the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek, and from the top of Sir Creek eastward to a point on the line designated on the Western Terminus”.
India-Pakistan Sir Creek border dispute
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, October 2, gave a strong warning to Pakistan over its recent military activities near the Sir Creek region. He said that if Pakistan tried any misadventure, India’s reply would be so strong that it could “change both history and geography.” Singh said Pakistan was once again trying to create trouble over the Sir Creek border issue, which has remained unresolved even after 78 years of independence.
He warned Pakistan, reiterating India’s firm stance on its territorial integrity. The fire is still there on the hotplate of Pahalgam attacks, Operation Sindoor, and the blatant display during the Asia Cup cricket tournament held in the UAE.
Where is Sir Creek?
Sir Creek, originally named ‘Ban Ganga’, got its present name after a British official. It is a 96-km tidal estuary along the India-Pakistan border, located between Gujarat in India and Sindh in Pakistan.
The creek flows into the Arabian Sea and separates Gujarat state in India from Sindh province in Pakistan. It is a long-standing border dispute between India and Pakistan over maritime boundaries, control of natural resources, and strategic dominance.
India-Pakistan dispute over Sir Creek
Post-partition in 1947, Sindh went to Pakistan while Gujarat remained with India. After 21 years, in 1968, an international tribunal settled most of the Rann of Kutch boundary dispute. However, the question of Sir Creek remained unresolved. India has sought to first establish the maritime boundary, whereas Pakistan insists the territorial disagreement must be addressed before that, according to an India Today report.
According to Pakistan, it has a rightful claim on the creek in its entirety for Sindh, citing a 1914 resolution that placed the boundary on the eastern bank. India says that the same resolution invoked the thalweg principle.
The thalweg doctrine
The thalweg doctrine is an international legal doctrine that states the boundary between two political entities along a navigable river or waterway is defined by the line of the deepest part of the main channel.
Here, it sets the boundary along the mid-channel of navigable waters, the report added. India uses a 1925 map and presents mid-channel pillars as evidence.
Pakistan insists that the thalweg doctrine applies only to rivers, not tidal estuaries like Sir Creek.
So, we end up with no solution to this highly contentious issue that keeps on raising, as neither side is prepared to give any ground.
1965 Indo-Pak war
Sir Creek once again came into prominence during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, in which Pakistan was defeated. in the 1965 war, the Rann of Kutchh (and Sir Creek) border dispute went to a UN Tribunal. Under the 1965 ‘Agreements for the Determination of the Border’, both nations agreed to the establishment of a tribunal to give a final determination of the boundary.
What makes Sir Creek a crucial point?
Militarily, it holds minimal value, but economically, it matters a lot as it is believed to be pregnant with huge oil and gas reserves. So, whoever controls the region rules the ledger.
Also, the local fishermen are impacted, who often and unknowingly cross into each other’s waters, and are arrested. Not only does it affect their livelihoods, but it also denies them their basic human rights and otherwise too for no fault of theirs.
Whoever controls this area gets access to key sea routes. This makes Sir Creek an asset for national security and formulating military strategies. No wonder then that Pakistan has sped up its military infrastructure here, and India is paying in the same coin by beefing up the defences with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indian Navy.
