Jakarta, Oct. 11 -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said he had contacted his Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Hasan, to explain Indonesia's efforts to tackle forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"I have spoken with the Malaysian foreign minister and explained the measures Indonesia has taken, including deploying over 60,000 personnel as well as 48 helicopters and aircraft for water bombing and weather modification," Arrmanatha told reporters in Jakarta on Saturday.

The discussion followed a phone call earlier this week between President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding efforts to manage fires whose haze has spread to Malaysia and Singapore.

Arrmanatha noted that forest and la...