MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE MARITIME BORDER NEGOTIATIONS BASED ON UNCLOS 1982 - MOHAMAD

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Singapore are currently actively continuing maritime demarcation negotiations involving several marine areas and every decision that will be made will be based on international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the negotiations are ongoing and being managed well, including the latest discussion session held yesterday between the director-general of the Maritime Affairs Department and the Singaporean side.

He said the negotiations were not focused on just one area, but rather involved several maritime border zones between the two countries which required comprehensive scrutiny.

"This negotiation is not just one, there are many areas that are maritime border areas between the two countries. So we want to see that it is managed well," he said during the Minister's Question Time at Dewan Rakyat today.

Mohamad was responding to a supplementary question by Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) regarding the latest status of negotiations regarding Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan, which he said involved issues of sovereignty, national dignity and the people's trust.

Mohamad said any decision regarding the Malaysia-Singapore maritime boundary would be made in accordance with the international legal framework.

He said that for issues involving maritime demarcation, Malaysia made UNCLOS 1982 the main basis in the negotiation process.

According to him, Malaysia remained committed to legal principles in managing the negotiations, besides stressing the importance of defending the country's sovereignty and sovereign rights.

Responding to Mohd Isam's original question regarding the security situation in Batu Puteh waters and the steps that the government had and would take to address it, Mohamad said the Batu Puteh issue was governed based on the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2008, and was discussed through the annual platform of the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore.

"Regarding Batu Puteh, we are governed by a decision or judgment by the ICJ in 2008… that is why both our countries have an annual leaders retreat to negotiate on how we want to resolve the maritime boundary between Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.

He said the negotiations were aimed at ensuring that the country's sovereign rights were not violated and that they took place in a good atmosphere between both parties.

-- BERNAMA