DILI, 09 september 2022 (TATOLI) – Charismatic Leader and the Chief of Maritime and Land Border Negotiator, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão said the land boundary between Timor-Leste and Indonesia will be negotiated after the 2022 G20 Bali summit.
“Yesterday, we agreed to meet each other again after the 2022 G20 Bali summit. As we all know that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi is too busy with the preparation for the 2022 G20 Bali summit. Therefore, we’ll have to make it next time,” Gusmão said at the Dili International Airport, on friday.
Despite the postponement of the negotiation, both parties are committed to negotiating the land boundary demarcation.
Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Julião da Silva said that the negotiation of the demarcation of the land border of the two countries was scheduled for 2021, saying that it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two sections of the land border were under dispute. The future negotiation will help to delimit the unresolved sections of the terrestrial border, notably Noel Besi-Citrana and Bidjael Sunan-Oben.
Noel-Besi Citrana is a border area between Kupang and Ambeno (Oe-Cusse). Meanwhile, the Bidjael Sunan-Oben is the border area between Timor Tengah Utara and Oe-Cusse, with an area of 142.7 hectares.
On july 22, 2019, the Timor-Leste border negotiation team, led by Gusmão, met with the former Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Justice, Wiranto, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Retno Marsudi, in Jakarta, where both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to finalize the delimitation of the land boundary between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
“We have agreed to delimit the unresolved sections of the terrestrial border, notably Noel Besi-Citrana and Bidjael Sunan-Oben,” Wiranto said in a statement.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
