Prabowo Accepts Malaysia's Fire Aid for Kalimantan — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Prabowo Subianto accepted Malaysia's offer of one aircraft, three helicopters, and 52 firefighting personnel after receiving Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi at his Hambalang, Bogor residence on Sept 18.
- Indonesia has also received firefighting assistance from Japan and several other countries, with Prabowo noting the fires' impact is felt beyond Indonesia's borders by neighbouring nations.
- Malaysia previously provided similar firefighting aid during past haze episodes, and the newly offered Malaysian assets will be deployed soon to assist the active response.
- Prabowo said he is putting in place preventive measures to stop such forest and land fires from recurring in coming years.
- Zahid Hamidi's four-day working visit (ending Sept 20) is aimed at strengthening Malaysia-Indonesia cooperation in disaster management, the halal industry, and rural development, at BPJPH's invitation for the fifth Halal 20 (H20) Summit.
- Prabowo emphasised the importance of not allowing disruptive bilateral issues to be exaggerated, framing the relationship as a continuing 'brotherly' partnership between the two neighbours.
Why it matters: Malaysia is dispatching concrete aerial firefighting capacity — one aircraft, three helicopters, 52 personnel — into an active blaze rather than offering purely diplomatic sympathy, supplementing aid already flowing from Japan and other countries. The same visit bundles broader cooperation tracks (disaster management, halal industry, rural development), signalling both governments want the crisis response to reinforce rather than distract from routine bilateral ties.
Ask SkimNews
