Indonesia-Singapore spats escalate over haze, energy, MSCI

Foreign ministers unveil fire task force; Jakarta warned against reprisals Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, left, and his Indonesian counterpart, Arrmanatha Nasir, held a joint news conference in Jakarta on Oct. 27, during which they debated the nature of fires in Indonesia that have caused the worst transboundary haze in many years. © Reuters JAKARTA -- The foreign ministers of Indonesia and Singapore agreed on Tuesday to set up a joint task force to seek corporate accountability for forest fires, as Jakarta stepped up threats to cut energy exports to the city-state following bilateral spats over transboundary haze and MSCI's potential downgrade for Indonesia.