About Strait of Malacca:
- It connects the Andaman Sea(Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean).
- It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular (West) Malaysiaand extreme southern Thailand to the east
- The Strait of Malacca's name was derived from the Malacca Sultanate, who governed the archipelago from 1400 until 1511.
- It links the Indian and Pacific oceans and is one of the busiest and most important shipping lanes in the world.
- Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia control the joint patrolling of Malacca Strait.
- Significance of Strait of Malacca
- Roughly 60% of India’s seaborne trade and almost all of its LNG imports pass through the Malacca Strait.
- The route is also a choke point for Chinese shipping, which makes it strategically sensitive.
What are the Malacca Straits Patrols?
- The MSP was launched in 2004 by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to curb piracy, terrorism and trafficking in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. Thailand joined later.
- It consists of three coordinated layers:
- Malacca Straits Sea Patrol – regular joint naval patrols.
- Eyes-in-the-Sky – combined air patrols for surveillance.
- Intelligence Exchange Group – real-time data sharing among the four states.
