Indonesia's President Joko Widodo says his country will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, but cut short his US visit to deal with Indonesia's worsening haze situation.

Widodo made the comments to US President Barack Obama at the White House, the (BBC) reported. Indonesia, South East Asia's largest economy with a population of 250 million, will join 12 countries in the world's largest free trade area.

But forest fires there have sent a smoky haze across the entire region. President Widodo discussed the haze situation as well as climate change with President Obama.