NO conclusive agreement has been reached with Indonesia over a maritime border dispute involving two islands in the Sulawesi Sea, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Although the International Court of Justice had decided in 2002 that Ligitan and Sipadan islands belonged to Malaysia, he said there were still disputes over the maritime borders at Blocks ND6 and ND7 due to conflicting inter-tidal claims.
“We are friends with Indonesia and we are in negotiation with them over the issue,” he told Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran), who wanted to know details on an “agreement” made between Malaysia and Indonesia in 2023 on maritime border issues involving Blocks ND6 and ND7, which are known to be rich in oil and gas.
Although Anwar had met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on four previous occasions, talks between them had been informal on issues such as the joint development of the disputed maritime areas.
He said that details on the proposed joint development between Malaysia and Indonesia on the areas were not made public due to a non-disclosure clause as both Blocks ND6 and ND7 were not part of the 2023 agreement.
He said that Malaysia remains firm on its sovereignty over the two areas.
Anwar said Malaysia had been invited to Jakarta on July 29 for talks.
The Sabah Chief Minister, he said, was also requested to be part of the delegation because it involved Sabah borders.
To a question by Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar), Anwar said that efforts had been made to beef up border security, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak.
This includes the acquisition of new patrol vessels for the the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and an additional RM40mil allocation for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
