MINISTER : RI, MALAYSIA MAKE PROGRESS IN AMBALAT BORDER TALKS

Jakarta, Aug. 26 (ANTARA) - Indonesia and Malaysia have made some progress in their negotiations on their maritime border in the Ambalat area, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Nus Hassan Wirajuda.

The progress was among other things thanks to the presence of a renewed negotiating team of Malaysia which helped smooth the negotiations, the minister said at the presidential palace here on Tuesday after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A meeting was held in Kinabalu, Malaysia, last July 20, 2009, to discuss the two countries' marine border line, he said.

He explained that previously Malaysia's negotiation team for legal issues had relied on the attorney general for the negotiations' materials. But now, the country has 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 welcome by the Indonesian team, he said.

Minister Wirajuda said that in line with the 1982 Convention on International Sea Law, a marine border line could not be claimed unilaterally by a country, but it should based on agreement with other related party through negotiation process.

While negotiations on the border are still going on, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) continue to secure the Ambalat water area in line with the standard operation procedures of the TNI and Malaysian Defense Forces, according to TNI Chief General Djoko Santoso recently.

The TNI Chief said the two countries often hold routine meetings to discuss various issues concerning the two nations' borders on land and in the seas.