Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that reviewing the water deal with Singapore is "not an urgent matter".

Responding to queries from reporters during a press conference on Monday  (Jun 25) evening, he said that his newly formed Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has not discussed about the issue yet, suggesting that Malaysia does not have an official stance on the matter as of now.

He also referred to his earlier interview with Bloomberg earlier on the same day during which he first remarked that Malaysia is seeking to review the water prices, saying:

"Since the reporter asked, I mentioned it."

MFA: Both countries have to comply with the agreements

Mahathir repeated the same sentiment during an interview later with Channel NewsAsia, saying that the 1962 Water Agreement has to be reviewed as the price of the water Malaysia sells to Singapore is "manifestly ridiculous".

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs later responded to his remarks, saying that Malaysia has to "comply fully" with the provisions of the water agreements.

Malaysia declined to take the chance to review the price of water when the two water agreements reached its 25th year in 1986 and 1987.

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A play for HSR?

Malaysia under Mahathir is supposedly scrapping the Singapore-KL High Speed Rail project, citing high costs and low profitability and benefits for the country and the local people. They have yet to officially inform the Singapore government of their intention.

This latest development has sparked speculations that Mahathir is raising the water issue yet again for political leverage so as to negotiate better terms for Malaysia when it formally cancels the project.

Top image via

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Top image screenshot from Channel NewsAsia