Joint operation to guard Malacca Strait

JAKARTA: Four Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, are currently finalizing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for a joint operation to guard the crucial Malacca Strait.

Indonesian Navy spokesman Commodore Abdul Malik Yusuf said on Saturday that once the SOPs had been finalized, the four countries would formally launch the joint operation to provide security in the Strait.

The narrow, 805-kilometer waterway carries a quarter of global trade and nearly all oil imports for Japan and China. But piracy and robbery have been rampant in the waterway despite coordinated patrols by the three littoral states: Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Abdul said that in August 2005, the chiefs of the armed forces of the littoral states met with their Thai counterpart to discuss ways that the latter country could participate in securing the Strait after Malaysia and Indonesia said they opposed calls from the U.S. and Japan for international involvement in securing the waterways due to sovereignty concerns. -- Antara