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AKARTA: Indonesia has demanded an explanation from Malaysia over news reporting that the latter has decided to acknowledge the North Sumatra traditional dance Tortor and musical instrument gondang sambilan (nine drums) as its own national heritage, a minister said.

Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring told reporters on Monday that his office would send an official letter to the Malaysia Information, Communications and Culture Ministry to clarify the news.

“I will send a letter to the ministry in Malaysia to shed light on the reports,” Tifatul said as quoted by tempo.co.

An official from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said on Monday that news stating that the neighboring country would include the North Sumatran traditional dance and musical instrument as part of its own national heritage was “a misunderstanding”.

The embassy’s head of information, social and cultural affairs, Suryana Sastradiredja, said in Kuala Lumpur that his office had contacted Malaysia’s Information, Communications and Culture Ministry to clarify the statement.

According to him, the Malaysian officials had denied the accusation that their government had decided to claim North Sumatra’s traditional Tortor dance and musical instrument, the gondang sambilan, as being Malaysian.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Rais Yatim was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying that the traditional dance and musical instrument would soon be “acknowledged as national heritage”.

The minister said on the sidelines of a gathering by Malaysia’s Mandailing community on Thursday that the acknowledgement would be registered under Section 67 of the 2005 National Heritage Act.