Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde said Tuesday that his country's maritime dispute with Chile will not affect the interests of Bolivia.

Peru filed a lawsuit to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague last week, demanding maritime re-demarcation with Chile.

"The judicial proceeding at the ICJ is an issue only concerns Peru and Chile. We have informed Bolivian government in advance about the lawsuit. It isn't connected with Bolivia," Garcia said.

"This is an offence against Peruvian interests. It has to do with Peru's aspirations." Garcia said.

Peru has claimed that the maritime zone had never been delimited, However Chile says the current border was established under two agreements signed in the 1950s. But Peru argued that those were not boundary delimitation deals but fishing agreements.

Peru's application at the ICJ requests the court to determine the course of the boundary between the maritime zones of the two states in accordance with international law.

The dispute dates back to the 1879-1883 War of the Pacific, in which Peru and Bolivia lost substantial territory to Chile. Since then Bolivia is the only Latin American country without export to the sea.

But the current presidents, Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Bolivia's Evo Morales, who seem to get along well, had preliminary talks about creating a potential Bolivian corridor through Chilean territory. But Peru's suit against Chile challenging the current maritime limits complicates matters.

Source:Xinhua