Ministers agree to secure Strait of Malacca

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam

Foreign ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore agreed on Tuesday not to involve other countries in securing the strategic Malacca Strait.

In the two-day meeting in Batam, which was held to discuss measures to boost security and safety in the waterway, the ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- which share sovereignty over the Malacca Strait -- also agreed to regularly hold similar meetings to discuss the strait. The next one is planned in the next six months or within a year at the latest.

"We also agreed to improve security and safety in Malacca Strait by cooperating with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the strait's users in a regional meeting," said foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda.

The meeting in Batam which ended on Tuesday, was held 29 years after a similar meeting was last held in 1977 in Manila, the Philippines.

Hassan acknowledged the rising concern over security disturbances in the strait -- mostly attacks and hijacking by pirates -- among countries which used the waterway.

"Threats to ships passing the Malacca Strait, according to statistics, is worrying," he said. "That's why we (the ministers) met to share our perceptions. A problem faced by one country could be different from a problem faced by another country. We tried to reach a common perception and discussed steps that needed to be taken to ensure the strait's safety, both for shipping and the environment," Hassan said.

Much of the world's oil and a quarter of its sea-borne goods pass through the strait each year. The strait is prone to attacks by pirates, and some countries have expressed fears that Muslim terrorists may try to launch an attack there.

China had earlier offered to help secure the Malacca Strait, but Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono gave no further details of the offer, only reiterating the country's position that foreign troops were not welcome in the waterway.

"All countries whose oil supply depends on the Malacca Strait, like China, Japan and Korea, have an interest in securing it," Sudarsono was quoted by AP. "But we only want technical assistance."

Indonesia and Malaysia have already rejected a U.S. offer of troops.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Teo said that his country welcomed the meeting but also expressed his willingness to include ASEAN countries and the strait's users in the meeting discussing the strait.

"We're very interested in the topic being discussed here. Singapore's participation in the meeting is also part of our responsibility over the Malacca Strait. We also wish that discussion on the Malacca Strait involves ASEAN countries and the users," George Yeo said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the meeting did not discuss bilateral relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"In this meeting we didn't discuss relations between Indonesian and Malaysia, or certain incidents. We have a special meeting to talk about the matter, not here," Syed said.

Officials from Indonesia and Malaysia met in Jakarta in March to resolve territorial dispute in the oil-rich maritime area off East Kalimantan. The conflict allegedly emerged after the Malaysian government awarded a contract to energy giant Shell to develop a deep water oil block in the Sulawesi sea. The Indonesian government has insisted the Ambalat oil block is outside Malaysian territory.

Warships had come into close contact several times this year before the two governments agreed to negotiate to end the dispute.

In another two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur, chiefs of defense forces from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore also agreed on Tuesday to start coordinated air patrols over the Malacca Strait by September to quell foreign jitters about security in the key shipping lane.