Jakarta. Indonesia and Singapore already have strong enough ties to be able to openly iron out their differences, according to Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir, as the neighbors face fresh strains stemming from months-long haze and gas export reductions.

Arrmanatha hosted his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in Jakarta on Tuesday for closed-door talks that lasted nearly two hours.

Balakrishnan’s visit came at a time when Indonesian forest fires — which fueled a transboundary toxic haze — had put ties to the test. Anti-Singapore online sentiment sparked by plummeting Indonesian stocks, on top of Jakarta’s decision to slash its natural gas exports to the city-state, further heightened the tension.

Speaking to the press afterwards, the top diplomats claimed that they were open with one another.

“Indonesia-Singapore relationship is mature enough to speak candidly, especially when we differ. What matters is not what we differ, but how we resolve our differences constructively, respectfully, and openly,” Arrmanatha told reporters.

He went on to say the fellow ASEAN nations will “continue to respect each other's domestic process, legal framework and national circumstances”.

Balakrishnan, too, did not hold back from admitting that they had to “deal with some of the current issues” at the meeting.

“I can tell you all that we had a very fruitful, very sincere conversation,” Balakrishnan said. 

They agreed to set up a joint task force to catch the haze-linked companies.

Even so, Balakrishnan suddenly switched from English to Malay in the middle of his remarks to say that while El Niño is a natural climatic phenomenon, “the wildfires are caused by human actions”.

“That’s why we have the responsibility to ensure the health of all Indonesians and Singaporeans”.

Despite the long list of problems, their press statements only revolved around the smog.

Neither minister raised the gas export cuts. It was unclear whether Balakrishnan had raised the gas supplies to Arrmanatha behind closed doors, although Singapore has considered pursuing remedies if there is a breach of contract. A day earlier, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters that the reductions still fall within the contractual limits.

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