RI INVITES INDIA TO HELP MAINTAIN MALACCA STRAIT SECURITY

Jakarta, Mar 5 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) has invited India's military to participate in efforts to optimize security in the Malacca Strait, a spokesman said.

"We are discussing various possibilities to optimize security in the Malacca Strait, including inviting several countries with an interest in shipping in the strait or countries directly bordering the strait to take part in securing it," Major General Supiadin, operations assistant to the TNI Commander, said here on Thursday.
The involvement of India in the Malacca Strait patrols would be very positive as then all approaches to the strait will be more secure for international shipping, he said.
The Malacca Strait constitutes a shipping lane between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and links three of the world's most populous countries, namely India, Indonesia and China.
Some 50,000 ships sail through the Malacca Strait every year transporting around one fifth or a quarter of the world's maritime trade cargoes.
Since July 2004, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have established cooperation to maintain security in the Malacca Strait. The trilateral coordinated patrol scheme is codenamed MALSINDO Malacca Straits Coordinated Patrols.
Since the joint patrols began to be carried out, the crime rate in the 500-mile long strait has decreased by about 70 percent.
"In 2008, only four criminal cases happened in the Malacca Strait. So the patrols we have been conducting with Malaysia and Singapore were very effective," Supiadin said.