M’sia dropping challenge on Pulau Batu Puteh claim, S’pore told

PUTRAJAYA: The International Court of Justice has informed Singapore that Malaysia is discontinuing the proceeding it has applied to revise the international court’s ruling that gave Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore in 2008.

The Singapore Foreign Ministry in a statement yesterday said Malaysia informed the ICJ on Monday that it would discontinue the proceedings and that Singapore informed the ICJ a day later that it agreed with Malaysia’s request,

“Prior to that, the Malaysian Solicitor-General had written to inform Singapore’s Attorney-Gen­eral of Malaysia’s intention to discontinue the proceedings, and Singapore’s Attorney General had replied conveying Singapore’s agreement,” the statement said.

Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia was considering withdrawing from pursuing its dispute with Singapore over Pulau Batu Puteh.

He added Malaysia “is doing some re-thinking” about the matter.

“They (ICJ) awarded Middle Rocks to us and we have already built structures there. It is our intention to enlarge Middle Rocks so that we can form a small island for us,” he told a press conference yesterday.

When asked to confirm if this meant that Malaysia was withdrawing from pursuing the case, Dr Mahathir said: “We will reconsider that.

“That is something we have been thinking but haven’t made a full decision on yet.”

Hearings into Malaysia’s request to overturn a ruling on a decades-old dispute with Singapore over the island has been set for next month.

Malaysia had lodged its case in February 2017, calling for the court to overturn the 2008 ruling granting its neighbour sovereignty over the disputed rocky outcrop.