Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A two-day meeting between Indonesia and Malaysia to settle their disputes over sea boundaries turned out to have drawn various comments from some elements of the nation.

Such negotiations to solve the dispute on sea border of the two countries which was closed on Tuesday had prompted Pramono Anung, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) to criticize the attitude of Indonesian negotiators.

The talks with Malaysia in Kinabalu on Monday were too diplomatic and soft, he told newsmen at the parliament building here on Tuesday.

According to him, the Indonesian nation actually expected Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to have more dignity in the talks.

The former secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) said the Indonesian nation had expected Marty to demonstrate a stronger stance on how the country`s sovereignty had to be defended although the country has 2.2 million migrant workers in Malaysia who also need protection.

For the House of Representatives (DPR), he said, what was important was not whether the results of the talks were documented or not but the implementation of the results of the talks.

"(What is important) is whether there will be improvement and whether Malaysia will respect Indonesia more," he said, adding that the talks in Kinabalu on Monday were still too diplomatic, what had been exposed did not show that the Indonesian nation did not have self-respect.

In terms of diplomacy, he went to say, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman perhaps should not have offered an apology verbally but should have put it in the note that he gave to Marty Natalegawa.

"I did not see it being conveyed by the Malaysian minister," Anung said.
In the meantime, Marty Natalegawa was reported to have made an apology verbally as well as in a written form in the note given to the Malaysian foreign minister.

In response to the talks, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior international relations analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the negotiation on sea border with Malaysia was still tough.

Therefore, according to her, Jakarta was recommended not to only adhere by the paper, but had to make their defense on a stand by position as well in order to anticipate any possibility to happen in the future.

Dewi said such tough condition had been anticipated in a sense that the negotiations would likely become tough as both were trying to get such benefit from disputed areas as much as possible just for the sake of big economic potentials. No wonder that both sides would strongly stand on their respective intentions.

"If Indonesia is really convinced about the ownership of the disputed areas, it needs to get prepared for the next round of negotiations which should not only be wrapped up on a paper but also in the context of defence as well," said Dewi Fortuna who was a key thinker on diplomacy and international relations during the rule of former President B.J. Habibie.

She admitted that it was not an easy job to keep Indonesian waters territory secure. In this regard, high commitments to uphold the security including the defense and financial allocations were badly required to keep the country`s water territory and other outlying islands to remain intact.

In inter-state relations between Indonesia and Malaysia which shared vast water-borders, practically, they would be tempted to get involved in border disputes on the ground that marine boundary is difficult to solve.

However, Dewi really appreciated the step taken by both sides in case the results from Kota Kinibalu meeting was adopted as platform whereas both sides had opted to channel their wiser stance and agreed not to take their marine boundary issue to the International Court of Justice.

Dewi event praised the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry under the leadership of Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalagawa for the steps taken in this respect, that was something already on the right track.

In the meantime, former Vice President Yusuf Kalla earlier asked Indonesian delegates to take firm stance in border talks with Malaysia.

"The problem is very technical, so it will take a long time. We must be firm in
defending our territory based on international law," he said.

"The team of Indonesian negotiators must be competent and able to show evidences," he said, adding that it was unlike for both sides to conclude the sea border talks just in a short time as they would likely to defend their respective claims.

When it came to water territory, sovereignty was often related to territorial sea, sovereign rights were always linked to economic exclusive zone and continental shelf.
The talks would require a high level of endurance and patience, Kalla said.

However, Indonesia and Malaysia has been trapped in diplomatic tension, the main cause of which revolves around the same problems.

What Indonesians see as a Malaysian breach of Indonesian sovereignty and permanent Malaysian arrogance toward Indonesia.

This time, the tension was triggered by the arrest of three Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry officials by Malaysia who were released at the same time as, if not exchanged for, seven Malaysian fishermen accused of illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

The Kinibalu meeting, opened on Monday, was attended by Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Malaysian counterpart Dato` Sri Anifah bin Haji Aman.

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

Editor: Aditia Maruli
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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