ABSTRACT
Recognition, acquiescence and estoppel are not themselves methods of acquiring title to territory but they do play a role in the resolution of disputes. Recognition represents the approval of states other than those in dispute about territory. In the Eastern Greenland case,74 the Permanent Court of International Justice alluded to the fact that treaties with a number of states had indicated an acceptance of Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland. In like terms it can be argued that India’s seizure of Goa in 1961 was validated by the subsequent recognitions granted by other states and most crucially by the recognition by Portugal itself in 1974. In the context of the acquisition of territory the concept of recognition applies to the attitude of other states while acquiescence refers to the attitude of the ‘losing state’ that is, the state that might be expected to protest but does not in fact do so.75 In essence it is a matter of evidence from which an inference may be drawn.
