Jakarta. Indonesia has deployed more than 60,000 personnel and 48 helicopters and aircraft to combat widespread forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said Saturday, as worsening haze prompted diplomatic discussions with neighboring Malaysia.

Arrmanatha said he had spoken with Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan to explain Indonesia's firefighting efforts, including aerial water-bombing operations and weather modification measures aimed at containing the blazes.

"I have spoken with the Malaysian foreign minister and explained the measures Indonesia has taken, including deploying more than 60,000 personnel and 48 helicopters and aircraft for water bombing and weather modification," Arrmanatha told reporters at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta.

The conversation followed a telephone call between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and President Prabowo Subianto earlier in the week over the worsening haze, which has spread beyond Indonesia's borders and affected air quality in Malaysia and Singapore.

Arrmanatha acknowledged that the fires remained a major challenge, particularly as dry weather continued to complicate firefighting operations.

"We hope the situation will ease soon, as rainfall is also expected," he said.

Malaysia Calls for Regional Action
Anwar said Thursday that he had personally contacted Prabowo to discuss the worsening situation and seek action to address the transboundary haze.

"The haze issue is indeed at a worrying level. And I have personally contacted President Prabowo," Anwar said.

"And he also agreed to take the necessary steps," he added, without providing further details of their conversation.

Malaysia has stepped up efforts to combat the haze, including cloud-seeding operations intended to encourage rainfall.

Anwar also instructed Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan to contact the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat to seek an urgent meeting of the bloc's environment ministers.

The proposed discussions would focus on coordinated measures to address the fires and their impact on air quality across Southeast Asia.

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