Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Monday reiterated the littoral states' principle for carrying out cooperation on the Malacca Straits.

When stakeholders and users of the Malacca Straits work together with the littoral states to ensure the safety of the waterway, they must consider the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, said Najib, who is also Defense Minister.

"While it is important that all stakeholders and users are engaged to play their part and work together with the littoral states for this purpose (of protecting and preserving the Straits), it must always be made very clear that whatever activities done must take into account the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the littoral states," Najib said at the opening ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Meeting on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

"Any party arguing that the rights of the littoral states can be set aside for reasons of security or in the name of freedom, is disrespectful of the rights of the littoral states, and is severely misguided in its understanding of international law," stressed Najib.

Themed "Enhancing Safety, Security and Environmental Protection ", the meeting was jointly organized by the International Maritime Organization and the Malaysian Ministry of Transport.

In addition to the three countries along the Straits, nearly 20 countries who are users of the waterway, including China, South Korea and the United States, and more than 10 international organizations have sent their delegates for the three-day meeting.

Every year, some 80,000 ships ply the Straits, with an average daily traffic of about 220 ships. Currently, about 50 percent of crude oil and 25 percent of goods in the world are transported along the busy route.

Source: Xinhua