THE HAGUE, May 23: Malaysia on Friday bowed ruling by the International Court of Justice that affirmed Singapore’s sovereignty over a tiny but strategic island that caused a 28-year dispute between the neighbours.

“It is a win-win situation,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim told reporters after the United Nations’ highest court handed down a majority ruling on the future of the uninhabited isle the size of half a football field.

Malaysia claimed original title to the island it knows as Pulau Batu Puteh, while Singapore, which calls it Pedra Branca, argued that sovereignty had passed to it tacitly.

Singapore operated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the granite island, whose names mean “white rock” in Malay and Portuguese, for more than 130 years without protest from its neighbour.

“The court, by 12 votes to four, finds that sovereignty ... belongs to the Republic of Singapore,” Judge Awn Shawkat al-Khasawneh said in handing down judgment.

The court found that the Malaysian sultanate-turned province of Johor had held the original title to the island, but had taken “no action at all” regarding Singapore’s operation of a lighthouse there for more than a century. “The court concludes ... that by 1980 sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh had passed to Singapore,” Khasawneh said.

The island is in a strategically important position, 7.7 nautical miles off Johor on the eastern approach to the Singapore Strait from the South China Sea.

The dispute arose when Singapore protested in 1980 against a new Malaysian map of its maritime boundaries in which Kuala Lumpur claimed the islet.

Years of bilateral talks failed to resolve the matter and the parties agreed to seek a ruling by the United Nations’ highest court.

Also asked to rule on the island’s two rocky outcrops, the court found that sovereignty of Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, while that of South Ledge had yet to be determined as it fell within overlapping territorial waters.

The court said it had not been mandated by the parties to draw a line through their territorial waters to determine the position of South Ledge, a rock formation visible only at low tide. Both countries welcomed the ruling, with Malaysia describing its title over Middle Rocks as a victory.

“We said we would create a special commission to implement the ICJ ruling, perhaps it could also establish the status of South Ledge,” said Rais.

“I want to say the status of all three rocks will remain as it is now.” In its argument to the court, Malaysia had claimed original title to Pulau Batu Puteh, contending that “Singapore’s presence on the island for the sole purpose of constructing and maintaining a lighthouse there ... is insufficient to vest sovereignty in it.” Singapore had argued that while still under the British rule, it took lawful possession of Pedra Branca from the mid-19th century when construction of the lighthouse started.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar said on Friday his country was “very pleased” with the outcome.

“Singapore wanted the sovereignty over Pedra Branca and obtained it. Of course we would be happier if we had had all three islands but what is very important is that the dispute is now resolved.”

As the highest judicial organ of the UN, The ICJ settles differences between member states. Its rulings are final and without appeal but the court has no means of enforcing them.—AFP