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ulture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has submitted an official note of objection to the Malaysian government over a TV spot promoting Malaysia that featured the traditional Balinese Pendet dance.

"We've sent our official protest to the Malaysian tourism ministry on this matter," he said Monday in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara.

"We want clarification from Malaysia as soon as possible.

"Earlier today, we summoned the Malaysian ambassador," he went on.

"However, it was his deputy who responded to our summons. We gave him a firm warning about this matter and expressed our demand for clarification from the Malaysian authorities."

The Malaysian Embassy's Amran Muhammad Zein said the controversy was a mere misunderstanding.

"There's been a misunderstanding," he said.

"The advertisement was made by a private company and Malaysia has never made any claim to the Pendet dance."

The TV spot was frequently aired in the past few weeks on the Discovery Channel to advertise a special series on Malaysia.

The Discovery Channel admitted responsibility for featuring the dance in the spot, saying in a statement it regretted that the image of a Balinese dancer, sourced from an independent third party, was used in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia.

An Indonesian official said Monday the Discovery Channel had agreed to stop using the spots for the series on Malaysia.

"*The Discovery Channel* will remove the ads today and will not air them again," Tjetjep Suparman, director of cultural arts and film at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said Monday.

Pendet dancers are some of the most instantly recognizable icons of the resort island of Bali, and the recent controversy has raised the ire of the island's usually more easygoing residents.

Balinese artists and much of the general public decried what they said was Malaysia's exploitation of the dance for its own tourism and commercial benefits.

Jero said he fully understood the outcry and anger of the Indonesian people.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said all stakeholders and institutions from both countries needed to calm down.

"I believe it'd be better if this issue was resolved in a discussion of the EPG *Eminent Persons Group*," he said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.