RI, Malaysia making progress in Ambalat talks
Thursday, August 27 2009 - 01:10 AM WIB
The two neighboring countries were reported to have made some progress in their negotiations on their maritime border in the Ambalat area.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Wednesday said the progress was among other things thanks to the presence of a renewed negotiating team from Malaysia which had helped smooth the negotiations.
A meeting held in Kinabalu, Malaysian, on July 20, 2009 to discuss the two countries` marine border was an indication of the progress expected to bring a solution to the row, he said.
According to him, previously Malaysia`s negotiation team for legal issues had relied on the attorney general for the negotiations` materials. But now, Kuala Lumpur had set up a directorate general for international agreements facilitating the negotiation processes, according to Wirajuda.
Besides, the Malaysian negotiating team was also more open to ideas, concepts and methods of the negotiation process, which was welcomed by the Indonesian team, he said.
Minister Wirajuda said that in line with the 1982 Convention on the International Law of the Seas, a marine border line could not be claimed unilaterally by a country, but it should be based on agreement with other related parties through negotiation process. (*)