Indonesia wants border issue with Malaysia resolved this year

JAKARTA: The intensity of negotiations to resolve the border issue between Indonesia and Malaysia will be enhanced this year based on the provisions of international law, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

She hoped that the Territorial Maritime Boundary Agreement involving the Sulawesi Sea and the Straits of Malacca can be negotiated and signed by both countries based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 regarding the regulation of the use of the sea and its resources.

"For the land border, priority will be given to resolve the Outstanding Boundary Line Problems including Pulau Sebatik," he said in a statement on the achievements of 2021 diplomacy and 2022 targets.

Pulau Sebatik is located in the Nunukan District of East Kalimantan Region which shares a border with Malaysia.

Indonesia held 17 border negotiations last year with the Philippines, Malaysia, Palau and Vietnam, compared to just seven the previous year.

On ASEAN, Retno said ASEAN solidarity must be strengthened to face the COVID-19 pandemic, inequality in vaccination rates, natural disasters, refugee crisis and climate change.

The region is also witnessing increasing competition between major countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

"ASEAN must continue to increase its role in developing the ASEAN community and creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," he explained.

Retno said Indonesia would continue to be active in peace and humanitarian diplomacy, including in Afghanistan, Palestine, the Rohingya issue and the political crisis in Myanmar.

-- BERNAMA