Three Southeast Asian countries will patrol together in the East Sea.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines agreed to coordinate anti-piracy patrols in the South China Sea and set up a crisis center to deal with emergencies.
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Malaysian and Singaporean ships leave Lumut naval base for the Strait of Malacca for exercises. Photo: aseanmildef |
According to CNA, the decision was reached at a meeting between civilian and military officials of the three countries, chaired by Indonesia in the city of Yogyakarta. These countries all have disputes with China in the East Sea.
"The meeting was held to draw up plans for joint patrols," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said. Officials also discussed details of standard operating procedures that the three countries would share.
"First, we need to figure out how to cooperate on joint patrols," Mr. Widodo said. "Second, if an incident occurs, we need to determine the steps to take. Third, in terms of information exchange, we will need to open a hotline between our crisis centers."
The trilateral meeting comes after kidnappings in waters off the southern Philippines and northern Borneo, where Indonesia shares a border with Malaysia.More than 55 million tons of cargo and more than 18 million passengers pass through the region every year. But increasingly, civilians from all three countries are falling victim to kidnapping in the strategic region.
In the past five weeks, 14 Indonesian and four Malaysian sailors have been abducted from their ships by gunmen believed to have links to terrorist groups.Abu Sayyaf. Ten Indonesians who were captured in late March were released on May 1 and returned home. Malaysia said it needed to address the root cause of the increase in kidnappings: unrest in the southern Philippines, a stronghold ofAbu Sayyaf.
According to VNE
