Indonesia has renewed its pledge to complete the takeover of FIR control over Riau Islands and Riau provinces from Singapore.

Mahathir and his wife, Dr Siti Hasmah, hosted an official lunch in honour of Widodo and the Indonesian delegation at Seri Perdana on Friday, after which Mahathir personally drove Widodo in a Proton – Malaysia’s first national car – to perform prayer at Putra Mosque in Putrajaya.

Despite few details of the pair’s discussions, observers said Indonesia’s relationship with Malaysia had significantly improved since Mahathir returned to power in 2017.

“Without doubt – whether defined by shared interests on various transborder challenges or the close people-to-people links between them – relations between the two countries are special,” said former Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa.

Indonesia’s largest Muslim group set for bigger role in Jokowi’s second term

Muhammad Sinatra, foreign policy and security analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), said the start of those warming ties went back to when Mahathir in 2015 first took Widodo for a high-speed ride in a Proton.

Sinatra said Indonesian politicians not using cross-border issues with Malaysia to shore up votes during April’s presidential and legislative elections was also a sign of happier times.

“We have seen a drop in destabilising, contentious issues that we so often saw in the previous decade,” Sinatra said, citing past cultural differences, border disputes and the high-profile case of Indonesian model Manohara – who accused her former husband, Kelantan prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, of abusing and kidnapping her in 2009.

But like many diplomatic voyages, Widodo’s visit did not come at the most perfect time.

More than 42,000 hectares of Indonesian forest and farmland have burned this year, according to the environment ministry. The president urged authorities to take the forest fires seriously, saying he did not want a repeat of 2015 blazes, which burned through 2.6 million hectares in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Widodo’s visit also came only days after a Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee meeting in Brunei, where Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia all pledged to strengthen efforts to reduce haze in the region, especially during the drier months between August and October.

As well as the smog, Malaysia and Indonesia have a long history of border disputes in the Sabah and North Kalimantan regions, said Sinatra. And migrant worker abuse issues continue to damage Indonesian sentiment towards Malaysia.

Malaysia is home to the largest Indonesian population outside the country, with 700,000 registered workers. But unofficially, their numbers are estimated to be above 2 million.

They work in plantations, the manufacturing sector, construction sites and in thousands of households as domestic helpers – all jobs shunned by locals.

Despite being the biggest group of migrant workers in Malaysia, there is no single comprehensive national policy for the recruitment, placement and the employment of the migrant workers, according to Tenaganita, a workers’ rights advocacy organisation.

Tenaganita director Glorene Das said Malaysia and Indonesia need a bilateral agreement to ensure the recruitment of migrant workers is properly regulated and that their rights are protected.

Last year, Malaysia moved to eliminate middlemen who charge foreign workers exorbitant recruitment fees, leaving them saddled with debt and vulnerable to exploitation. Malaysia is now negotiating an agreement with Indonesia to directly recruit workers.

“There must be a [government to government] mechanism. A bilateral agreement must be in place because it’s binding. Not MOUs, which are a mere understanding,” Das said.

Last year, Indonesian domestic helper Adelina Lisao, 21, died from organ failure following alleged abuse by her employer. She was also forced to sleep on the porch with her employer’s dog. The employer was charged with murder but released in April when prosecutors withdrew the charge, drawing public outcry.

Sinatra said it’s cases like Lisao’s, and the resulting outrage, that the Indonesian government needs to manage better.

Tenaganita and Sinatra both said Malaysia needs to deliver justice to migrant victims of abuse and improve the way it manages foreign worker issues.

“On Indonesia’s part, there is a need to prevent these cases from inflaming anti-Malaysia sentiment among the public,” he said.

Now is an “opportune moment” for Indonesia and Malaysia to resolve their numerous differences, Sinatra said. “We hope this translates into a period of stability and cooperation in the foreseeable future.”