Indonesia's leader says his country to join Asia trade pact

Widodo, who was sworn in as president just over a year ago, met with President Barack Obama on Monday and announced that Indonesia would join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. "We are the largest economy in Southeast Asia", he said.

Indonesia's president brought his United States trip to a sudden halt Tuesday, but stayed long enough to anounce that the country would seek to join Southeast Asian neighbors in a regional trade pact with the U.S.

Officials said Widodo would be cutting short his USA visit to deal with the forest fire crisis.

Now, the Indonesian authorities have chose to involve their warships, putting it on standby ready for the evacuation of the people that are affected by the crisis, which already killed 10 people and injured half a million with a respiratory illness.

Information from The Washington Post was included in this story.

The fires, which have spread across vast parts of the country including South Sumatra, are triggered by peat fires, which are deliberately set by agricultural companies, in what is known as "slash-and-burn" techniques in order to clear forests for agricultural use. During a five-day visit to the United States Widodo is also is meeting with business leaders, fund managers and technology and mining executives in Washington and San Francisco.

But Professor Meijaard said he believes Indonesia's government has failed to recognise the seriousness of the problem.

"Obviously I have a very personal interest in Indonesia, given the fact that I spent a bit of time there as a child and have relatives who are Indonesian", Obama said.

But climate change in Indonesia can be a sensitive issue.

"Why has there not been a nationally declared total fire ban advertised 24/7 on all television channels?" asked Dr. Eric Meijaard, an Indonesia-based associate professor at the University of Queensland, in a recent editorial in the Jakarta Globe.

"Especially in Indonesia, we have a big challenge right now".

Indonesia's forestry ministry said this year's disaster was the most widespread with more than 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land burned and six provinces severely affected by the haze.

"We're calling for a total ban [on new peatland developments]", Nirarta Samadhi, Indonesia country director for the World Resources Institute told Mongabay after attending the meeting.

Indonesia has submitted a national strategy to the United Nations outlining how it will tackle climate change from 2020, pledging a voluntary emission reduction cut of 29 percent by 2030 that can be raised to 41 percent if other countries offer financial assistance.