Indonesia cautious about East Timor-Australia maritime treaty

Australia and East Timor have signed an agreement that draws the first maritime border between the two nations. (Screenshot: ABC)

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government said on Wednesday that it will weigh up the newly signed treaty on maritime borders between East Timor and Australia, considering the possibility that it may affect its sovereign rights.
The historic treaty was signed on Tuesday at the UN’s headquarters in New York by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Agio Pereira, East Timor’s deputy minister for the delimitation of borders, in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Xanana Gusmao, East Timor’s independence hero and its first president, was the chief negotiator.
The treaty was brokered by the conciliation commission established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. The commission will submit the report of its work to the UN secretary-general and it is expected to be made public in April.
Arrmanatha Nasir, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a statement that the government would examine the details of the signed treaty when the documents, which are still confidential, are made public.
“The Indonesian government reserves all its rights against any outcomes that might potentially affect the sovereign rights of Indonesian under the UNCLOS 1982,” Nasir said.
Nasir added that the Indonesian government has closely observed the conciliation process, which ended a long-standing dispute between the two countries.
Nasir said that Indonesia has sought assurance that the conciliation would not prejudice the maritime rights to which Indonesia is entitled under UNCLOS 1982, and that both East Timor and Australia have affirmed on many occasions.
“The Indonesian government welcomes the use of any peaceful means under the UNCLOS 1982 in settling outstanding maritime delimitation between the two countries,” Nasir said.
The treaty will come into force as a law in each country after the parliaments of East Timor and Australia ratify it.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement on Wednesday that the treaty opens a new chapter in the bilateral relationship as it delivers certainty between the two countries and provides for the joint development and management of the Greater Sunrise gas fields.
“Australia and Timor-Leste have agreed that we will exercise joint rights over the seabed containing the Greater Sunrise field. Seventy or eighty percent of the revenue from developing Greater Sunrise will flow to Timor-Leste, depending on the final development concept to be agreed upon by Timor-Leste and Australia,” Bishop said.
According to East Timor’s Maritime Boundary Office, the permanent maritime boundaries served as “the final step in realizing full sovereign rights” for East Timor as a newly independent state since the seas which surround the island sustain its people and are integral to their culture and livelihoods.
East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum in 1999. It will hold its parliamentary election on May 12 — the second in less than a year — after the government, led by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and his Fretilin party, failed to secure support in the Parliament and were unable to form a coalition with Gusmao’s CNRT party, which won second place in the 2017 elections.