Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he regretted Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to disregard the Batu Puteh issue.
Anwar said it was wrong for Mahathir to have done so and considered it a failure on the part of the former prime minister.
“Malaysia and Singapore never fought over this issue. The two nations only need to discuss this as it involves the country’s sovereignty,” he said following a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice decided that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, and South Ledge to the state in the territorial waters in which it is located.
In June 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ requesting an interpretation of the judgment.
In 2018, Mahathir withdrew the application to overturn the ICJ’s ruling which awarded legal jurisdiction of Batu Puteh to Singapore. – FMT