RI, Malaysia cool off, talks to start soon<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Malaysia pledged on Friday to use all means
\npossible to defuse tensions, including some "adjustments" to
\nprevent armed conflict, and have agreed on talks to end the
\nborder dispute over the Ambalat offshore oil field in the
\nSulawesi Sea.<\/p>\n
"All parties will control their respective environments in a
\nbid to ease tensions. The President will communicate with the
\nCabinet, and vice versa," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
\nWirajuda told a joint press conference along with his Malaysian
\ncounterpart Syed Hamid Albar, after a meeting with President
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday.<\/p>\n
Albar said that neither Indonesia nor Malaysia had any
\nintention of using force.<\/p>\n
"Malaysia and Indonesia will be forsaken by God if we think to
\nthreaten one another with troops. Our approach is cooperation,
\nnot military. (Armed conflict) will never happen, God willing,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Albar denied accusations that Malaysia's plan to buy military
\nequipment from Britain was connected to the dispute that has
\nsimmered over the past week.<\/p>\n
The dispute heightened after Kuala Lumpur decided to award oil
\nexploration rights in a maritime area also claimed by Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Hassan said that Indonesia also had been trying its best to
\nprevent possible military incidents that could increase tensions,
\nadding that Indonesia is determined to normalize ties with its
\nneighbor.<\/p>\n
Indonesia plans to make some "adjustments" to the deployment
\nof warships in the disputed oil block, he said.<\/p>\n
"Should there be several Malaysian or Indonesian ships (in the
\narea), then they must be considered to be just routine patrols,"
\nthe minister added.<\/p>\n
Warships from both countries had come into close contact in
\nthe disputed waters on several occasions since Feb. 16, after
\nMalaysia's Petronas awarded Dutch energy giant Shell an oil
\nconcession in the Ambalat block.<\/p>\n
"The President has communicated with the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI). He even visited the area to ensure that troops obeyed the
\nrules of engagement," Hassan said.<\/p>\n
During his recent visit to Sebatik island near Ambalat, Susilo
\nordered TNI personnel not to activate warship radars, so "there
\nwould be no impression of an emergency situation that may give
\nwrong signals", Hassan said.<\/p>\n
"We'll try to put things back to the way they used to be
\nbefore the tension," he said.<\/p>\n
During talks with the President, Albar said that both
\ncountries' leaders had agreed to improve communications to ease
\ntension.<\/p>\n
"The President shall stay in contact with the Prime Minister
\n(Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), myself with Pak Hassan, and military
\nchiefs between themselves. This will be the wisest solution,"
\nAlbar said.<\/p>\n
They jointly agreed not to talk through the media about the
\nsubstance of planned negotiations scheduled to take place over
\ntwo days from March 22.<\/p>\n
"We do not want to debate through the media; we'll leave
\n(negotiations) to the technical team," Albar said, reiterating
\nMalaysia's complaints that the Indonesian media had overreacted
\nto the situation and had whipped up emotions resulting in anti-
\nMalaysian demonstrations in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The dispute is one of the biggest tests of the Indonesia-
\nMalaysia bilateral relationship since the 1960s, when former
\npresident Sukarno declared "confrontation" with Malaysia over the
\nlatter's control over northern areas of the island of Borneo,
\nthat are now the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.<\/p>\n
The Ambalat oil field is situated near the islands of Sipadan
\nand Ligitan that had been in dispute for years between Malaysia
\nand Indonesia. The International Court of Justice eventually
\nawarded Malaysia sovereignty over the islands in 2002. However,
\nIndonesia claims that Malaysia's maritime territory extends only
\n19 kilometers (12 miles) from the islands.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-malaysia-cool-off-talks-to-start-soon-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}