NEW DELHI: With the international community worried about reports that terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or pirates could target the Strait of Malacca, the US has called a meeting of seven countries, including India, to discuss ways to enhance security in the region.

The Indian team will be led by Coast Guard inspector-general P Paleri during the meeting this week, which will be attended by UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia and, of course, the US.

“This will be a build-up to an International Maritime Organisation-sponsored meeting, which will probably be held in Malaysia in July, to dwell on measures to enhance maritime security in Strait of Malacca,” said an officer.

Visiting Japanese naval chief, Admiral Takashi Saito, incidentally, is also slated to hold talks with Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash and others Wednesday to boost bilateral military-to-military cooperation.

For India, the stakes are clearly high, with the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands dominating the approaches to the Strait of Malacca. “India’s central location in Indian Ocean, astride these major commercial routes and energy lifelines, makes us a major stakeholder in the region’s security and stability,” said an officer.

India, of course, is still reluctant to openly join the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative, which seeks to aggressively “interdict” shipments suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction or related material on the high seas.

But defence minister Pranab Mukherjee has himself stressed the need for a multi-lateral mechanism to tackle the WMD proliferation threat.—By arrangement with The Times of India