Indonesia suggests sea border talks with Malaysia July 1

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has suggested to Malaysia to resume talks on their common sea borders in the second week of July, a spokesman said.

"The Indonesian negotiators have expressed their readiness to resume talks on July 13 - 14, 2009 with Malaysia as host," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Friday.


He said Indonesia was now waiting for a response from Malaysia whose turn it was to host the talks.

"Up to now, the foreign ministry has not yet received a confirmation from Malaysia on its readiness to host the meeting on those dates," he said.

The foreign ministry spokesman predicted that Malaysia had not yet set up a negotiating team so that it had not yet sent a confirmation to Indonesia.

The Indonesian government will continue to insist on Malaysia so that it would host the meeting on the suggested schedule offered by Indonesia.

He said that Indonesian negotiators were ready to leave for Malaysia to discuss the borderline issues based on the proposed schedule.

Faizasyah said that the negotiators would not discuss the sea borderlines in the Ambalat block area only but also those in the Malacca strait.

Referring to the visit of the Indonesian parliamentary delegation to Malaysia recently, Faizasyah said that their visit to Malaysia was not a form of negotiations but of communications.

"It was an approach forum. Negotiations remain to be carried out by the government with the foreign ministry acting as its negotiator," he said.

Faizasya said last week that negotiators from Indonesia and Malaysia are planning to hold their 14th meeting in Malaysia next month to discuss the disputed Ambalat Block in the Sulawesi Sea.

He said the Sulawesi Sea was part of Indonesian territory and the Ambalat Block was located in this sea so it was an area subject to Indonesian sovereignty based on the international law of the seas. (antara news.com)