Indonesia and Malaysia seek to defuse maritime border dispute
The defence ministers of Indonesia and Malaysia met on 30 june to discuss ways of avoiding an escalation of tensions over the two countries' disputed maritime border off the east of Borneo.
Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono and his Malaysian counterpart, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, told reporters after their meeting in Jakarta that they would work together to avoid a naval clash in the oil-rich Ambalat area of the Celebes Sea.
Warlier in june Malaysian naval chief Admiral Abdul Aziz was forced to apologise publicly after Jakarta revealed that its navy had almost fired on a Malaysian patrol vessel that had crossed into Indonesian territorial waters.
The incident followed a series of complaints by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry about alleged Malaysian incursions. At the time, Sudarsono announced he would seek joint patrols of the disputed area with Malaysia to avoid any repeat of the episode.
Following the bilateral meeting, Sudarsono said that patrols in the Ambalat area would have to be "extra cautious" in future, with Zahid adding that the two sides should hold more informal, as well as formal, discussions as a way of building trust.
However, neither minister said if or when joint patrols would be implemented.
The military-to-military relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia has improved since the two sides began cooperating, alongside Singapore, in the policing of the Malaccan Strait.
However, Ambalat remains a potential flashpoint, with both Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta having recently awarded exploration and production contracts to oil and gas companies without having first settled the disputed maritime border.
Source: Janes Defence Weekly
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments