At least one long-running maritime border dispute in Southeast Asia is heading towards peaceful settlement.
On Monday, the Indonesian and Philippine foreign ministers announced that the two countries had settled their maritime border dispute, with a boundary treaty likely to be signed when President Yudhoyono visits the Philippines in May. This maritime border agreement follows a 5 February agreement between the Philippines and Indonesia to provide Filipino fishing vessels passage through Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone to key fishing zones in international waters.
As reflected by the extremely minimal coverage of this story even within the Philippine press, regional and global attention is focused on the disputes in the South China Sea between China and Southeast Asian states.