India seeks info-sharing system with countries patrolling Malacca Strait

Looking to widen the arc of its maritime information gathering in the strategically-vital Strait of Malacca, India has asked four countries, which officially patrol the strait, to devise a system for sharing information about shipping through the narrow water body.

Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia carry out a joint Malacca patrol. New Delhi has been asking for at least a decade to join the patrol, but a consensus has been elusive. The next best thing was to propose an information-sharing system as India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands are contiguous to the Malacca, said sources, adding that discussions in this regard were underway and they were hopeful about the outcome.

The issue of patrolling the Malacca also came up on Thursday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his counterpart from Singapore Lawrence Wong.

According to a joint statement, “Singapore acknowledges with appreciation India’s interest in the Malacca Strait Patrol (MSP)”

Answering questions on the PM-level talks, P Kumaran Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs had said, “There is an expectation that there will be some kind of coordination to ensure synergy among current members of the Malacca Strait Patrol and India as a contiguous state. The discussions are ongoing and they haven’t reached any conclusion,” he added.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are around 100 km from the western edge of the Malacca. New Delhi argues that since it has the responsibility to secure the sea lane of communication (SLOC) west of the Malacca, it should be a part of the MSP.

At present, the Indian Navy uses its fleet of reconnaissance planes over the Malacca and has its warships patrolling the SLOC west of Malacca. The Chinese Navy is uneasy with too much surveillance as its warships and submarines too transit through the strait.

The four-nation MSP includes a sea patrol, an ‘eyes-in-the-sky’ surveillance programme that is a combined maritime air patrol and the intelligence exchange group. It has a real-time information-sharing system on suspicious contacts or incidents, trade-flow and military platforms that are passing through.

Sources said, “India is only looking at information sharing, and will not carry out a military attempt to ‘choke’ the Malacca.” Meanwhile, international strategic thinkers term a hindrance shipping through the strait as ‘China’s Malacca dilemma’ – a vulnerability.

The US Department of Defence, in its annual report, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2024, flagged Beijing’s reliance on the Malacca.

It stated, “China relies on maritime routes that transit the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca for most of its hydrocarbon deliveries -- approximately 63% of oil imports and 41% of its total natural gas imports.”

Almost half of the world’s total annual seaborne trade by volume passes through this narrow water body that connects the Indian Ocean with the Pacific. It means that about 1.20 lakh merchant ships, oil and gas cargos sail annually through these strait.