Jakarta (ANTARA News) - As negotiations with Malaysia on pending border problems will be tough, the government should not only be ready with the needed paper work but also prepare the country`s defenses, an international relations obsever said.

Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior international relations analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), made the statement here Tuesday when asked to comment on the Indonesia-Malaysia ministerial meeting to settle sea-border problems in Kota Kinibalu, Sarawak which took place Monday.

Dewi said that the negotiations would be tough was anticipated as both sides would fight to get as much as possible from the disputed areas which were believed to hold huge economic potentials. Both sides would obviously stick to their respective positions.

"If the Indonesian government really is sure of Indonesia`s ownership rights to the disputed areas, then it needs to be really prepared for the next round of the negotiations, not only on paper but in terms of defense as well," said Dewi, who also helped shape Indonesia`s diplomacy and international relations during the administration of President B.J. Habibie.

She said it was not an easy job to keep Indonesia`s territorial waters intact. In this regard, there was a need for high commitments, including on defense and financial allocations if the government wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of the unitary state of Indonesia (NKRI), including the country`s most outlying islands.

Dewi said relations between Indonesia and Malaysia which had extensive common sea borders were susceptible to boundary conflicts because sea borders were more difficult to secure.

But Dewi appreciated the fact that at the Kota Kinibalu meeting Indonesia and Malaysia had agreed to adopt a wise stance and not to take their sea-borders disputes to the International Court of Justice.

Dewi also praised the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry under the leadership of Marty Natalegawa for the course taken in this regard, saying it was "already on the right track."

The Kinibalu meeting, officially termed the 16th Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) was attended by Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Malaysian counterpart Dato` Sri Anifah bin Haji Aman. The meeting took up several sea border issues, including the Aug. 13 arrest of Indonesian civil servants and Malaysian fishermen in Indonesian waters.

The meeting agreed that similar sea incidents would be prevented from happening in the future.

The two ministers agreed to meet again to continue their talks on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month. At the technical level, the two sides had scheduled two meetings to be held alternately in Malaysia (October 11-12) and Indonesia (November 23-24).(*)

Editor: Heru
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