Singapore-Malaysia water dispute: Lee Hsien Loong and Mahathir Mohamad say they’re open to arbitration
- Thaw in relations as the Lion City’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong meets Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya for leaders’ retreat
- The price Singapore pays Malaysia for fresh water has been a diplomatic sticking point for decades
Lee, commenting on the thaw in ties after public bickering between the countries broke out in December and January, said ministers on both sides had engaged in extensive talks “to turn things around gradually to bring them to where we are today”.
“So we have, as TS Eliot says, we have come back to our starting place and we are recognising it for the first time,” Lee said in a joint press conference following the meeting in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya. Mahathir, too, struck an optimistic note, saying he hoped both countries would continue “the momentum of positive engagements”.
The water issue for decades has been the top diplomatic sticking point between the two countries. It re-emerged as one of Malaysia’s foreign policy priorities after Mahathir, 93, last year became prime minister for a second time.
