Najib said Duterte had already agreed the measure with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, or “Jokowi”.
“The hot pursuit is a new development. This has been agreed by Duterte and Jokowi, and now with us,” Najib said at a press conference in the Malaysian administrative capital Putrajaya.
The waters between Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state and the southern Philippines have for years seen repeated kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
“We need to stamp out the kidnap-for-ransom groups. It is affecting us, Sabahans and foreigners who visit us,” Najib said.
“We have to continue to pursue and interdict them.”