Historical Background
The Sir Creek dispute dates back to the colonial era and stems from ambiguous boundary agreements made under British rule. In 1908, the princely state of Kutch (in present-day India) and the Sindh province (in present-day Pakistan) quarreled over rights in the Sir Creek area. The British administration attempted to settle this with a 1914 resolution by the Government of Bombay but this document was internally contradictory. The map attached to the 1914 resolution placed the boundary along the eastern bank of Sir Creek (implying the entire creek fell in Sindh, now Pakistan), whereas the textual description stated that the border ran mid-channel according to the thalweg principle, the idea that a navigable river’s boundary follows its deepest channel. This unresolved ambiguity laid the groundwork for future disputes.
Upon Partition in 1947, Sindh became part of Pakistan and Kutch (later part of Gujarat) remained in India, but no clear demarcation of Sir Creek was achieved. Tensions over the marshy Rann of Kutch region (adjacent to Sir Creek) led to a brief armed clash in 1965. A UN-sponsored tribunal in 1968 adjudicated the Rann of Kutch boundary, awarding about 90% of the disputed territory to India. Crucially, however, that 1968 award explicitly excluded Sir Creek from its scope, leaving the creek’s boundary unresolved. From the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek, the border remains undefined. What seemed a minor leftover dispute at the time would later gain outsized importance with the advent of modern maritime rights.