Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Iran-Malaysia cooperation to checkmate US moves

Kuala Lumpur intends to use the opportunity provided by anxiety over Iran’s eventual fate among global players to its advantage. The game is simple. Singapore, the staunch US ally in the region , is strategically placed close to the Malacca Strait (a shipping route through which oil reaches from Iran to the ports at South China Sea). In order to apply pressure on Iran, the US may use its existing strategic leverage in Singapore and choke the Iranian oil supplies. If this was to happen, China (which draws a lot of its burgeoning energy needs from Iranian oil fields) would feel the pinch. This politico military calculus is causing a lot of consternation, both in China as well as Iran. This anxiety is being used by Malaysia to strengthen its economic base. The solution they are now working upon is to help China and Iran by-pass the ‘Malacca dilemma’ by commissioning refineries and pipelines running from its west coast (Yan in Kedah state) up to Bachok, located on the eastern coast of Kelantan state. This would facilitate the Chinabound oil tankers from Gulf to off –load at Yan, thus obviating the need to cross narrow confines of the Malacca strait.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click here

Source: IIPM Editorial, 2006

An IIPM and Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative

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