Malaysia-Indonesia border issue will probably be solved with political will

The issue of overlapping demands on several border areas of Malaysia and Indonesia will probably be solved with a strong political will of leaders of the two countries.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said the finding of solution through political will was probably the best method because even the technical committee had reached a dead end on the issue.

"This is a complex issue and has taken too long. The technical committee had met 28 times and reached a dead end in their attempts to find a peaceful solution to the issue. It will probably be solved through political will," he said.

He said the role of political will to solve the issue would be discussed between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and President Joko Widodo.

Anifah said this to the Malaysian media after attending dinner hosted by Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Sri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim here on Sunday.

The minister had led the Malaysian delegation to the 15th Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation meeting here ended Friday.

The long-standing issue of the overlapping demands on land and maritime border areas between Malaysia and Indonesia was among the matters discussed at the meeting.

Among the overlapping demands were for Ambalat, the maritime bloc between Sulawesi and Sabah, as well as the maritime area in the Straits of Melaka.

-- BERNAMA