Malaysia, Indonesia in high-level contact over haze as Jakarta deploys 60,000 to fight fires, says Indonesian minister

Motorcyclists ride amid thick haze from forest and land fires in the region in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan October 10, 2026. Indonesia and Malaysia have maintained high-level diplomatic communication over transboundary haze caused by forest and land fires, following a telephone conversation between their leaders amid concerns over worsening air pollution. — AFP pic

First Published: Sunday, 11 Oct 2026 3:32 PM MYT

JAKARTA, Oct 11 — Indonesia and Malaysia have maintained high-level diplomatic communication over transboundary haze caused by forest and land fires, following a telephone conversation between their leaders amid concerns over worsening air pollution.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said he had spoken to his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, to explain Indonesia’s firefighting efforts.

“We have deployed more than 60,000 personnel. This is indeed a challenge because weather conditions are currently not in our favour, but we hope the situation will ease soon as rainfall is expected,” he told reporters.

Arrmanatha was responding to questions about Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement on Thursday that he had contacted Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto over the haze situation.

Anwar also said Malaysia was ready to assist Indonesia in tackling the fires and had instructed the Foreign Minister to contact the Asean Secretariat to seek a meeting of regional environment ministers to coordinate efforts to combat transboundary haze.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry reported a sharp increase in hotspots nationwide, to 793 as of 9.10 pm local time on Saturday, up from 437 the previous day. The six priority provinces accounted for 421 hotspots, up from 270 a day earlier.

According to the ministry’s monitoring system, Central Kalimantan recorded the highest number, at 288, followed by South Sumatra (60), West Kalimantan (44), South Kalimantan (28) and Jambi (one), while Riau recorded none.

“Today’s increase serves as a reminder that vigilance must not depend on trends over just one or two days,” the ministry said in a video update posted on its official Instagram account.

The ministry said air quality monitoring based on PM2.5 concentrations continued to show unhealthy to very unhealthy conditions in several areas, with pockets of hazardous pollution detected in parts of Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua.

It added that 61 aircraft remained on standby, comprising 44 for water-bombing operations and 17 for aerial patrols and weather-modification operations, supported by ground firefighting teams. — Bernama