Thus, Indonesia will continue to dismiss any claim which has actually no globally acknowledged legal basis.
Jakarta – Indonesia held 17 border settlements in 2021 with the Philippines, Malaysia, Palau, and Vietnam to reinforce the nation’s territorial sovereignty, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has said.
” Our diplomats continue to reinforce our sovereign diplomacy with border negotiations as a crucial aspect,” she said while providing the 2022 Yearly Press Statement essentially on Thursday.
The variety of settlements kept in 2021 was higher compared to 2019, when only 7 negotiations were conducted, she noted.
In 2022, border settlements will be magnified, she included.
Relating to the maritime boundaries, territorial sea border agreements with Malaysia concerning the Sulawesi Sea and the southern Malacca Strait sections are targeted to be signed, the minister informed.
Furthermore, the technical team-level settlements with Palau on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) border will be continued, with the goal of reaching a partial arrangement, Marsudi stated. Similar settlements will also be performed with Vietnam, she included.
On the other hand, 2 negotiations are planned with the Philippines, she said. The very first will focus on the decision of the continental shelf at the technical level, she divulged.
The second one will act on the agreement on specifying the continental shelf and the EEZ limits in two various lines, she added.
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Indonesia has constantly stuck to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in performing maritime border negotiations, Marsudi stated.
” I would like to emphasize that any claim by any celebration on Indonesian waters should be in accordance with global laws, including the 1928 UNCLOS. Therefore, Indonesia will continue to dismiss any claim which has no worldwide recognized legal basis,” the minister worried.
Worrying the land border, settlements with Malaysia and Timor Leste will be prioritized, she notified.
The government will finish the demarcation of the Outstanding Boundary Problems (OBP) in the eastern sector, including Sebatik Island, with Malaysia, she said.
Settlements with Timor Leste will settle the remaining two unsettled sectors in accordance with the agreed concepts set in 2019, she added.
Indonesia and Timor Leste’s negotiating groups have actually concurred that the maritime limit negotiations will start after the land border settlements are finished, she stated.
Associated news: Indonesian federal government intensifies talks on nation’s land, maritime borders
