S’pore to oppose KL’s latest bid on Batu Puteh

A file pic of Pulau Batu Puteh - Reuters

SINGAPORE: Singapore will op­­pose Malaysia’s application for in­­­ter­pretation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2008 Judgment in the case concerning sovereignty over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.

In a statement yesterday, the Singaporean Foreign Affairs Mi­­nistry noted that Malaysia’s ap­­plication for interpretation filed on Friday was additional to, and separate from, its Feb 2, 2017 application for revision of the ICJ’s judgment.

“In our view, the ICJ judgment is clear and unambiguous. Malay­­sia’s request for the ICJ to interpret the judgment is puzzling.

“Singapore will therefore op­­pose Malaysia’s application for interpretation, which we consider to be both unnecessary and without merit,” said the ministry.

The ministry added that Sin­­gapore would file its written ob­­servations on the interpretation application in due course.

“Just as we are confident of our case on the revision application, we are also confident that we are on strong grounds to oppose this latest application by Malaysia for interpretation,” it said.

The ministry noted that Singa­­pore was committed to resolving these issues in accordance with international law.

In its filing which was disclosed by the Hague-based ICJ in a press release issued on Friday, Malaysia had requested the court to adjudge and declare that the waters surrounding Pedra Bran­ca or Pulau Batu Puteh remained within the territorial waters of Malaysia; and South Ledge is located in the territorial waters of Malaysia, and consequently sovereignty over South Ledge belonged to Malaysia.

Malaysia filed the application for revision of the ICJ judgment on Feb 2, following its discovery of three documents at the Na­­tional Archives of Britain to support its claim.

Singapore, meanwhile, had filed its written observations in response to Malaysia’s revision application with the ICJ on May 24,2017. — Bernama