KUALA LUMPUR: The maritime treaties signed between Indonesia and Malaysia do not include territories that are still under negotiation, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said that the recently signed treaties with Indonesian President Joko Widodo ending an 18-year maritime dispute would not cover territories such as Pulau Sebatik in South Sulawesi.
“The treaty does not include territories that are currently under negotiations such as Pulau Sebatik in South Sulawesi because we will call a representative from Sabah to discuss the matter.
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“It also does not involve the borders along the Tanjung Pelepas Port.
“The negotiations to complete the Sulawesi Sea borders will continue since Jokowi said according to his experts, the borders belonged to Indonesia while we stand firm the borders belonged to Malaysia, so we postponed the matter and continue to negotiate,” he told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (June 13).
The Tambun MP was replying to a question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) on the government's assurance that the newly signed border agreement will not affect Malaysia's sovereign rights and put the country at loss, particularly its negative impact on maritime economic activities in the long term.
Anwar assured that the government will not compromise on the sovereignty of the country during its negotiations with Indonesia.
“There is no way that we will sacrifice even an inch of our land.
“We have made clear our stand and claims and Indonesia understands what we are asking for and they are clear with their claims as well.
“The issue of our country’s sovereignty being compromised should not arise because we want to settle this as best as we can,” he told the August House.
The Tambun MP was replying to a question by former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) if the government would compromise its sovereignty when negotiating the treaty.
Anwar also reaffirmed that the Johor borders were not part of the treaty as it only covers three nautical miles away from the state.
