Singapore foreign minister heads to Indonesia amid tensions due to haze

Indonesia will host Singapore's top diplomat today, its foreign ministry said, as tensions simmer between the two neighbours over persistent haze from Indonesia's wildfires and Jakarta's decision to cut gas supplies to the city-state.



Jakarta cut pipelined gas to Singapore by about 8% as of Saturday, saying it was safeguarding domestic supplies.



The move came days after Indonesia's energy minister threatened to review export contracts with countries "that are not cooperative and do not treat Indonesia with mutual respect". He did not name the countries.



The visit by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, which Singapore has yet to confirm, comes as frustration builds in the city-state and neighbouring Malaysia over transboundary haze from Indonesia's most intense forest fires in 11 years.



Singapore generates up to 95% of its electricity from natural gas, and though the supply cut from Indonesia amounts to less than 2% of daily demand, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Sunday that he expects contract signatories to "honour their commitments".