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Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines sign maritime boundary agreement

Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

An agreement was signed between Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to delimit the maritime boundary between the two countries, according to media reports reaching here from Bridgetown, capital of Barbados.

Barbados is an island country about 168 km east of the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their boundary is exactly in their middle, reports said.

Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and his St. Vincentian counterpart Ralph Gonsalves inked the agreement at Barbados government headquarters after several months of negotiation "based on the principle of equidistance".

Both leaders warned that the fishermen who repeatedly fish illegally in each other's territory waters would be prosecuted.

This is the first such an agreement signed between Barbados and a member country of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), according to Barbados' daily newspaper the Advocate.

Stuart acknowledged St. Vincent and the Grenadines as one of Barbados' key strategic partners in the Caribbean region and said the agreement was signed "on the basis of mutual trust and good faith."

Stuart believed that as both countries are committed to pursuing Caribbean integration, a sound bilateral relationship that promotes the social and economic interests of respective states and peoples would cement a stronger Caribbean community.

"St.Vincent and the Grenadines is the closest neighbor to Barbados and we never had any 'fight' over where the boundaries are," Gonsalves said, speaking highly of their bilateral relations. Endi