The United States, China, Japan and other powers may soon be asked to contribute equipment and expertise to help fight threats such as piracy in the world's busiest shipping lane, officials said Thursday.Just a little worried about sovereignty, aren't they?
Foreign assistance in the Malacca Strait will be sought to strengthen air patrols launched last September by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, the three countries that border the route, Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said.
"Other nations can be invited to help us in technical matters, but they will not be approached to send their maritime forces here," Sudarsono said after holding discussions on border security with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak.
UPDATE: Okay, maybe it's not a little worry:
"The fact is that littoral states lack the assets and technology to ensure thorough monitoring.
"But whatever the (foreign) involvement, it cannot be at the expense of our sovereignty or territorial rights," Najib said while chairing the 34th Malaysia-Indonesia general border committee (Malindo GBC) meeting here.