Indonesia prefer diplomatic solution to solve Ambalat dispute
Thursday, June 4 2009 - 01:08 AM WIB
?trespassing? of warships into the disputed oil-rich Ambalat waters in East Kalimantan, Jakarta Post reported Thursday.
It will instead send Malaysia a diplomatic note planned to be brought about in the two countries? upcoming boundary negotiation.
Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno told a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday he would soon send a letter through the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso to Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda requesting for the diplomatic note.
He said Indonesia would not add its naval nor air force fleet in Ambalat, adding it would keep guarding the area with its current six warships and three military air?rafts.
?We keep guarding the border, and the measures we take are in line with regulation and the President?s direction? Tedjo said after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office.
?What we do is detecting their presence, building communication with them, shadowing them and then driving them out of our territory.
?Yesterday we successfully drove them out. This morning they also tried to tresspass, but again we managed to send them away,? he added.
Tedjo said Malaysia ?trespassed? the Ambalat area 76 times in 2007, 23 times in 2008 and 11 times in 2009 as of Wednesday
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS said Indonesia had been in negotiation talks with Malaysia over the Ambalat area 23 times since 2005.
He said the two countries would meet next month for the 24th negotiation talk.
?Indonesia wants the negotiation to cover all of our boundary segments including those in Malacca Strait, Johor, South China Sea and Sulawesi Sea including Ambalat,? Widodo said.
?We hope Malaysia will respect the negotiation process and not carry provocative measures through its units in the field, which trespass and abuse our territory,? he added.
Earlier Tuesday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that Indonesia must take action and be prepared to wage war over border breaches in Ambalat waters but pointed out relations with Malaysia remain cordial.
?We must be strict about any violations in Ambalat,? he said. ?We must be ready for war if we are disturbed.?
But Kalla was quick to point out relations between Malaysia and Indonesia were still good.
International borders in the area have yet to be determined, with each country claiming the area as its own.
Malaysia claims the area based on a 1979 maritime chart, while Indonesia bases its claims on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which states the area belongs to Indonesia.
Indonsia has awarded several oil and gas gas concessions to contractors in the area, including the Ambalat block to Italian firm Eni Spa and the East Ambalat block to Chevron. (*)