India is ready to extend humanitarian aid to neighboring countries during contingencies but will not offer security help in the Straits of Malacca, a senior Indian naval official said Tuesday.

Although India has vital economic interests in the Straits of Malacca, its military movements would be limited to the Indian Ocean, visiting Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash said in port Klang, about 35 kilometers southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

"We are an Indian Ocean country, we live in the Indian Ocean and our interest largely lies within the Indian Ocean. So the Indian Navy thinks its responsibility stands within the Indian Ocean," Prakash was quoted as saying by local media.

The countries bordering the Malacca Straits have very professional and competent navies which can well safeguard the interests of their own countries, Prakash told reporters when asked whether Indian navy would be involved in the security of the straits.

Prakash was met by the media aboard the Indian aircraft carrier INS Viraat, which was on a goodwill visit to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Prakash arrived in Malaysia last Saturday.

The Straits of Malacca is now jointly patrolled by the littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Economic giants like Japan and the United States had offered security assistance in this waterway, but Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last Thursday that his country would never allow foreign military forces to help patrol the Malacca Straits.

Over 60,000 vessels, with shipment of a third of global trade and half of the world's oil, pass through the straits every year.

Source: Xinhua