Sir Creek

A quarrel over firewood

Sir Creek is a shifting tidal channel, about sixty miles long, in the marshes of the Rann of Kutch. The Rann lies between the Indian state of Gujarat and the Pakistani province of Sindh.^[1]

The dispute goes back to around 1908, when the rulers of Kutch and Sind argued over a pile of firewood on the bank of a creek between them. The Government of Bombay ruled on it in 1913, and the Government of India endorsed that ruling as a resolution in 1914, with a map numbered B-44.^[1] Sind is now in Pakistan and Kutch in India. Both governments accept that the 1914 settlement governs the creek; they disagree about what it says.^[1]

Left out in 1968

In 1965, after armed clashes, Pakistan claimed half of the Rann, along the 24th parallel. India said the border ran along the Rann’s northern edge. A tribunal ruled on 19 February 1968 and upheld about 90% of India’s claim.^[1]

Before the tribunal, the two sides had agreed to leave out the stretch from the mouth of Sir Creek up to its head, and from there east to a point called the Western Terminus. The award said: “In view of the aforesaid agreement, the question concerning the Sir Creek part of the boundary is left out of consideration.”^[1] A former Pakistani foreign secretary later said the tribunal skipped it because pre-1947 documents showed the creek in Sind. India rejects that.^[1]

Middle or bank

India says paragraphs 9 and 10 of the 1914 resolution put the border in the middle of the creek, that it was marked that way on the final map of 1925, and that no pillars were needed in a natural, moving channel.^[1] Pakistan says the green line drawn along the creek’s eastern edge on the 1914 map should be transferred to the ground, which makes the whole creek Pakistani. It argues that the mid-channel rule applies only to navigable channels, and that Sir Creek is not navigable. Indian officials say boats can use it all year, especially at high tide.^[1]

The land line matters because of the sea. Where it meets the coast decides where the maritime boundary starts. Hopes of oil and gas offshore raised the stakes: by Misra’s account, Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone would grow by about 250 square miles if the eastern bank were the border.^[1]

Talks without a deal

Surveyors-general of both countries opened talks in Islamabad on 2 June 1989. Further rounds followed in 1990, 1991 and 1992. A complication was that the middle of the channel moves often with the tides.^[1] In 1996 Pakistan declared straight baselines along its coast; India objected, partly because one point on them lay off the creek’s eastern bank.^[1]

At talks in New Delhi on 8 November 1998, India proposed drawing the sea boundary inward from the outer edge of the two economic zones while the creek was settled. Pakistan wanted the land line fixed first, and proposed an international tribunal. India said the 1972 Simla Agreement meant disputes must be settled between the two countries alone. By 2000, after eight rounds, there was no agreement, and Misra argued that tying every issue to Kashmir had held this smaller one back.^[1]

On 2 October 2025, speaking at Bhuj, India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh accused Pakistan of expanding its military infrastructure in the Sir Creek sector and warned that any “misadventure” there would bring a response that would “change both history and geography”.^[2]