Indonesia has asked Malaysia to establish a joint navy maritime patrol in the disputed Ambalat waters off East Kalimantan.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono revealed the proposal after meeting with Malaysian armed forces commander Gen. Abdul Aziz Zainal on Wednesday.
"The joint maritime patrols will add the rule of engagement or code of conduct that has existed since the 2005 crisis."
"I also asked the Malaysian Navy to decrease its patrol activities near the territorial waters, which are our sovereign territories, to curb the perception of violations in the area."
Juwono also said he told the Malaysian commander the Indonesian navy had been tasked to protect its sovereign rights over the Ambalat waters, which were outside Indonesian territorial waters.
He said sovereign rights covered areas beyond the 12-nautical mile territorial area.
"That is what we explained to them to prevent misunderstandings. What has been a problem point among us is that their patrols are too close to the sovereign rights."
He said the Malaysian commander had come to calm the situation and to convey that their patrols were meant to conduct their maritime security and not to enter the Indonesian sovereign zones.
Juwono said the Malaysian commander would bring the Indonesian message to the Malaysian navy chief to curb their patrol activities so as not to be too close to Indonesian sovereign zones.
He added Aziz had also discussed following up a March meeting between the President and the Malaysian prime minister on systematic cooperation between their defense industries.
"Malaysia is also offering to let Indonesia use their defense industry facilities to maintain our weaponry system, but we already have a plan to build similar facilities.
"They are offering to let us use their facilities through a tender system, but we have to defend our own interests by making our own maintenance facilities."
The relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia sailed into troubled waters recently. Ambalat — a 15,235-square-kilometer sea block located north of Sulawesi Island, which had been disputed by Malaysia and Indonesia for several years, has stirred nationalist sentiment.
Both countries have their own interpretations of their respective sea boundaries.
Riefqi Muna, who holds a PhD on defense management and security analysis from the United Kingdom's Royal Military College of Sciences said the dispute was really political.
"The Ambalat matter is a residue from the water boundaries issue during the New Order era. We have to learn from past mistakes. These could be policy or strategic mistakes. We need to not think in a linear way. Ambalat is not a linear problem."
Juliadi Karmandito, a social science graduate, said the border dispute was Malaysia's way of harassing Indonesia.
"Their armed forces are crossing our borders along with their fishermen, and we cannot forget that our assets exchange hands every day in Malaysia. Fish from the sea, and timber from the forests." (iwp)
