CNA – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that the two treaties signed with Indonesia which demarcated parts of the two countries’ maritime borders were in accordance with rules and were only signed after consultations were made with a number of government agencies.
“On June 8, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and I made an agreement based on the principles that our interests are border points that we do not dispute as well as the international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982,” said Anwar during the Prime Minister’s Question and Answer Session in Parliament.
He stressed that the agreements were signed only after consultations with the Maritime Affairs Department of the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Department of Survey and Mapping and the National Hydrographic Centre.
The two agreements are the ‘Treaty Relating to the Delimitation of the Territorial Seas of the Two Countries in the Southernmost Part of the Melaka Straits’ and the ‘Treaty between Malaysia and Indonesia Relating to the Delimitation of the Territorial Seas of the Two Countries in the Sulawesi Sea’.
“So after they examined the maritime boundaries and had a final meeting with me – and once we were satisfied – then we signed the treaties,” said Anwar.
“The technical, legal and economic aspects have been agreed upon and examined by Malaysia and Indonesia.”
Anwar stressed that the treaties signed do not involve territories which are still under dispute. “The treaty does not include areas which are still under dispute, for example, Pulau Sebatik near Sabah and the limits near the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor,” he said.
Anwar was responding to Kota Bharu Member of Parliament (MP) Takiyuddin Hassan who asked whether the newly signed treaties with Indonesia would harm Malaysia and affect its sovereign rights, particularly the negative impact on maritime economic activities in the long run.
Subsequently, Pagoh MP Muhyiddin Yassin asked Anwar for his guarantee that Malaysia will not compromise in future negotiations with Indonesia over territories which Malaysia has a claim over.
To this, the prime minister assured that Malaysia’s position is that the interests of its national sovereignty will not be sacrificed. “Our ultimate position is that we cannot sacrifice even an inch of our country’s land,” Anwar told Parliament.
