Kuala Lumpur, March 17: Following up the recent statement of the Malaysian Government in support of the call to make the Indian Ocean a zone of peace, official sources here believe that the principle should be reiterated regardless of what the United States does with Diego Garcia.
They are of the view, however, that China may have to be taken into confidence and brought into the picture at some stage by the Indian Ocean countries. Malaysia and China, although they recognise each other, have no diplomatic relations. They are moving towards diplomatic representation which may be established this year.
Opinion here on this issue is in such contrast to what it is in Singapore. Like other non-aligned countries which support the peace zone idea, Malaysia sees the problem as one of big power rivalry, essentially leading to U.S.-Soviet confrontation, in the Indian Ocean. Singapore, on the other hand, sees it as a problem of small power confrontation in its region. In the event of its relations deteriorating with Malaysia or Indonesia or both to the point of confrontation, Singapore feels that it must have dependable ways of safeguarding its commercial sea lanes without which it cannot survive. Non-aligned maritime nations may feel that the Indian Ocean must be non-aligned not only as between the superpowers but among themselves. Unless a peace zone also means agreement among its sponsors that they will themselves police it with a view to keeping the peace among themselves, small States like Singapore have nowhere to go for succour in an emergency. This is how the Strait of Malacca have come to be crucial to Singapore’s thinking on the subject. Both Indonesia and Malaysia claim the Straits as part of their territorial waters.