In an effort to overcome the problems, the most important way is to seek solutions trough a peaceful means, not through violence, Mahathir said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - There is no need to exaggerate it if there is a problem in the dynamic relations between Indonesia and Malaysia as both nations are neighbors, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said.
"Actually it is normal if two (close) neighboring countries have problems in their dynamic relations. If we are staying far away with each other such as Malaysia and the United States there must be no problem," the former Malaysian prime minister said in a discussion entitled: "Mahathir Talks," here on Wednesday.
He said that Malaysia shared borders with five other countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and had problems with the five countries.
In an effort to overcome the problems, the most important way is to seek solutions trough a peaceful means, not through violence, according to Mahathir.
"We have to settle it through a peaceful means, not through violence. For example, we have a dispute on an island, we have to negotiate it and, for example, divide the island into two where one gets 50 percent and the other also 50 percent," he said.
He also referred to the problem of advertisement regarding Indonesian maids in Malaysia recently. Mahathir said it was one of the issues in the dynamism of the two countries` relations so that it should not be exacerbated.
"It is a dynamism which would not break the relations of the two neighboring states. We should respect our democracies. Moreover, Indonesia has 230 million people," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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