Three states to discuss security

INDONESIA: The ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will discuss the security at Malacca Strait at a meeting on the island of Bintan next month, an Indonesian foreign affairs ministry official has said.

"Due to the increasing security problems in the Malacca Strait these days, Indonesian foreign ministers have initiated a meeting at Bintan to discuss comprehensive security issues and to try to find a common perception on the steps we should all take to secure the Strait in the future," foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Friday.

Indonesia and Malaysia have in the past rejected suggestions that the U.S. or other foreign navies be allowed to help patrol the pirate-infested strait.

While acknowledging that the U.S. recognized that the responsibility for the Malacca Strait was with the littoral states, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told the Malaysian government last week that his government was ready to provide capacity building to enhance security in the waterway.

"The meeting (in Bintan) will show the coastal states' responsibility to maintain security at the Strait," Marty said. -- JP