UN approves Pak claim for extension of continental shelf

The UN has endorsed Pakistan's claim for extension of the limits of its geographical continental shelf, adding about 50,000 square kms to it which gives the country the right to exploit marine resources, the government said today.
The decision to extend the limits was taken at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the term 'continental shelf' has a legal definition as the stretch of the seabed adjacent to the shores of a particular country to which it belongs.
Pakistan's Foreign Office said that it was great satisfaction that its claim extension of outer limits of its continental shelf has been unanimously approved.

"As a consequence of this landmark development, Pakistan has been granted an additional area of approximately 50,000 square kilometres," it said.
Pakistan will have exclusive rights for exploitation and exploration of resources at and beneath the seabed in this area in accordance with UNCLOS.
"This development will boost our efforts aimed at sustainable socio-economic uplift of the people of Pakistan," the Foreign Office said.
Pakistan had submitted its claim to the CLCS in 2009.