Jakarta. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Sunday that he had a conversation on forest fires with President Prabowo Subianto, while inviting the Indonesian leader for a state visit. 

Both leaders are currently in the Indian capital of New Delhi for a BRICS gathering. Malaysia is a partner country to the China-backed group that is aimed at countering Western dominance, hence Anwar’s presence, while Indonesia is the bloc’s youngest member. In a social media post, Anwar revealed that he and Prabowo had sat together on the sidelines of the gala dinner the previous night to discuss the forest fires that had choked Malaysia’s skies. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was seen next to Prabowo in the picture.

“With President Prabowo Subianto, we addressed forest fire issues and the developments in the West Asia conflict that require consensus and joint action,” Anwar wrote. 

Anwar did not go into the specifics of the forest fire talks, although Kuala Lumpur wants to tackle the matter via ASEAN’s mechanism and its regional pact meant to tackle transboundary haze. Malaysia — which has had some of its schools closed because of the smoke —  has offered to help with the waterbombing efforts. The country recently called off its haze emergency in the Sarawak state, but had warned its people that the air pollution remained at very unhealthy levels.

“I have also renewed my invitation [for Prabowo] to visit Malaysia at the earliest opportunity. So we can discuss and finalize several pending bilateral matters,” Anwar concluded, again skipping the details.

Beyond forest fires, the Ambalat block dispute has overshadowed the neighbors’ relations. Both countries have laid claims to the oil-and-gas-rich area. Jakarta has said that it would pursue negotiations, but will defend its national interests.

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