India has reiterated its support for coordinated maritime patrolling around the strategically vital Strait of Malacca, emphasising that collaboration is essential to effectively monitor one of the world's busiest and most important maritime regions.

During a special media briefing ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Manila for the 49th ASEAN Summit, the 23rd ASEAN-India Summit and the 21st East Asia Summit, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon highlighted the scale of surveillance challenges across the Indo-Pacific.

He stressed that the Strait of Malacca falls within the territorial waters of several ASEAN member states, while India itself is located outside the waterway. However, he underlined the value of cooperative security arrangements, stating: “We certainly look at a coordinated sort of patrolling because that always helps in surveilling a maritime domain which is so huge and requires collaborations of this nature to surveillance successfully.”

The comments reflect New Delhi’s continuing focus on maritime security, regional connectivity and stability under its Act East Policy, all of which are expected to feature prominently during discussions with ASEAN partners.

The issue of maritime security has gained greater international attention amid concerns over the vulnerability of key global shipping routes. Earlier in July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Southeast Asian leaders that allowing illegal maritime blockades in one region could encourage similar actions elsewhere, including in crucial Indo-Pacific waterways.

Addressing ASEAN foreign ministers in Manila, Rubio accused Iran of contributing to instability in West Asia and pointed to threats posed by the Houthis to shipping passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a key route connecting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. He said the United States was working closely with Saudi Arabia to address those challenges.

Warning against any attempts to control international waterways, Rubio said: “If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation-state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don't pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region.”

His remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to major Asian maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Malacca and the Taiwan Strait, both of which are critical to global commerce and energy flows.

The Strait of Malacca remains one of the most strategically significant sea lanes in the world, serving as the primary link between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It carries roughly one-third of global trade and more than 55 per cent of India’s seaborne trade, making its security a matter of direct national interest for New Delhi.

India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, situated around 600 kilometres from the western entrance of the strait, provide the country with a unique geographical vantage point overlooking maritime traffic moving between the Indian Ocean and East Asia.

According to international maritime assessments, the waterway narrows to about 10 miles where it joins the Singapore Strait, creating a natural bottleneck that increases the risk of shipping incidents.

Any prolonged disruption, blockage or closure could significantly affect global supply chains, East Asian energy imports and regional trade networks.

To address such risks, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore established the Cooperative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in 2007. 

The framework, developed under Article 43 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, promotes collaboration between littoral states, user states and industry stakeholders to improve navigational safety, environmental protection and information-sharing.

The mechanism is widely regarded as the first practical implementation of Article 43 of UNCLOS and provides a platform for joint projects, dialogue and cooperative efforts aimed at ensuring the continued safety and openness of one of the world's most important maritime corridors.

ANI