Jakarta. Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met President Prabowo Subianto at the latter’s Hambalang residence amid simmering tension.

Ties between the close neighbors have soured due to a combination of transboundary haze, MSCI-related negative online sentiments, and natural gas supply reductions, which Jakarta claimed still fall within contractual limits. Most recently, internet sea cable cut threats have become a new source of friction. On his second day of his visit, Balakrishnan came to visit Prabowo after having what he called a “very fruitful and sincere conversation” with his Indonesian counterpart Arrmanatha Nasir.

The Presidential Secretariat uploaded a 34-second muted video of their meeting on their YouTube channel on Wednesday evening. In a statement, the Cabinet Secretariat wrote that Balakrishnan and his minister of state Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim “suddenly” traveled to Jakarta.

“They requested to meet the president,” the statement reads, without disclosing how the talks had gone.

Balakrishnan’s meeting with Arrmanatha the previous day resulted in the possible formation of a joint task force on the haze. The governments are expected to team up on following the money of companies linked to the smog that is coming from Kalimantan and Sumatra wildfires. Arrmanatha claimed 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 the press at the time.

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