Indonesia on Wednesday played down fears that pirates could link up with terrorists to wreak havoc in the Malacca Strait but pledged to do its part to ensure security in the vital shipping lane.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting with Singapore and the International Maritime Organisation, said pirates and terrorists had different goals.
“We should not adopt the alarmist view that somehow terrorists and sea-robbers will join forces in wreaking havoc on the Straits of Malacca,” he said.
“While terrorists want to halt world trade, the sea robbers would be out of business without world trade.”
The Malacca Strait is one of the world’s most important waterways, with 50 000 ships carrying about one-third of the globe’s trade passing through it each year.
However the strait, 960km long and 1,2km wide at its narrowest, is vulnerable to pirate attacks and governments in the region also believe it is a tempting target for terrorists.
Wirayuda said ensuring security in the strait “clearly falls” in the hands of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore — the three states whose coastlines hug the narrow and busy shipping lane.
But he also welcomed assistance from other countries in the region, particularly China and South Korea, in the existing sea patrols.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore already have a security cooperation scheme under which their navies conduct regular patrols in the Malacca Strait in close coordination with each other.
Wirayuda, however, voiced concern about media reports that Singapore was allowing private security guards to operate on vessels in Singaporean territorial waters in the Strait.
“Indeed, the last thing we want is a clash of interests between nations in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore,” he said.
Last month Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said shippers should not be encouraged to take the law into their own hands but added, “we recognise that shipowners have the responsibility for self-defence”.
The city-state has, however, denied allowing private security guards on board vessels in its waters. – AFP