Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)
Outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines:
Submissions to the Commission: Submission by the Republic of India

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On 11 May 2009, the Republic of India submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, in accordance with Article 76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, information on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

It is noted that the Convention entered into force for India on 29 July 1995.

According to the submitting State, this is a partial submission and, as a coastal state in the Southern part of the Bay of Bengal, India reserves the right to make at a later date, notwithstanding the provisions regarding the ten-year period, a separate submission on the outer limits of its continental shelf, based on the provisions of the Statement of Understanding contained in Annex II to the Final Act of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, a communication is being circulated to all Member States of the United Nations, as well as States Parties to the Convention, in order to make public the executive summary of the partial submission, including all charts and coordinates contained in that summary.

The consideration of the partial submission made by India will be included in the provisional agenda of the twenty-fifth session of the Commission to be held in New York in March-April 2010.

Upon completion of the consideration of the submission, the Commission will make recommendations pursuant to Article 76 of the Convention.

Amendment to the Submission

On 3 April 2025, India transmitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, through the Secretary-General, two executive summaries in respect of the Western Offshore Region (Central Arabian Sea region), and the Western Offshore Region (Northern Arabian Sea region) as part of the amended partial submission.

According to the submitting State, the executive summaries (i) "amend the Executive Summary of the partial submission made by India pursuant to paragraph 8, article 76, of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on 11 May 2009", and (ii) "supersede, in part, the corresponding portions of the 2009 partial submission with regard to the Wester Offshore Region in the Arabian Sea, and have no bearing on the data and information provided in the 2009 partial submission pertaining the Eastern Offshore region comprising the Bay of Bengal and Western Andaman sectors."

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, as well as the decision of the Commission taken at its sixteenth session (CLCS/48, paragraphs 18 and 19), communication is being circulated to all Member States of the United Nations and parties to the Convention, in order to make public the executive summaries of the amended partial submission, including all charts and coordinates contained therein.

The consideration of the amended partial submission made by India will be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-fourth session of the Commission to be held in New York from 7 July to 8 August 2025.

Upon completion of the consideration of the submission, the Commission will make recommendations pursuant to Article 76 of the Convention.

Note:
The designations employed in the submissions, including description of the areas, are as contained in the communications from submitting States or in the executive summaries. Their listing on this web site and the presentation of material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.