Singapore and Indonesia discuss joint haze task force as gas supply dispute escalates

Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan travelled to Jakarta where he and Indonesia’s foreign minister Arrmanatha Nasir spent two hours discussing a proposed bilateral task force to combat the severe trans-boundary haze caused by the country’s largest forest-fire outbreak in over a decade. The envisioned unit would enable the two governments to share intelligence, gather cross-border evidence and potentially recover assets from companies tied to the fires, with Singapore offering to supply data on such firms.

Both officials highlighted that the haze first harmed Indonesian citizens and called for collective action, while reaffirming Singapore’s solidarity with Indonesia. The meeting was set against rising diplomatic friction after Jakarta reduced piped gas supplies to Singapore by roughly 8 %, a step Indonesia said protected domestic needs and met the minimum level in the existing agreement. Singapore’s prime minister Lawrence Wong warned that contract partners must honor commitments, and energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia rebuked the criticism, asserting Indonesia’s compliance. Veteran diplomat Bilahari Kausikan described the gas cut as an intimidation tactic but unlikely to succeed, and Singapore’s sovereign investors Temasek and GIC defended themselves against accusations of influencing MSCI’s rating of Indonesian equities.