Humanitarian collaboration
Search for MH370 shows that national interests are surmountable
FROM 14 initially, the number of nations involved in the search-and-rescue (SAR) mission to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 has increased to 25. A full week after the flight went missing, the Malaysian prime minister was able to announce a concrete development when the search over the South China Sea, the location where the airliner was last in contact, proved totally futile and every hopeful lead false; oil slicks, reported sightings and satellite images of debris all. Not to put a finer point on it, what the prime minister intimated was that MH370 had been diverted as he confirmed the air force radar sighting not long following the disappearance when Subang airspace control lost contact. By the time contact was made between it and another flight half an hour ahead flying to Narita Airport, communication channels were obviously malfunctioning, although initially put down to atmospheric disturbance.
Now that it has been confirmed that the aircraft was flying until at least around 8am and headed westward from the peninsula, the area thought to be involved has expanded given the time frame. A northern corridor extending from Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan in the west, to Thailand in the east, and a southern corridor stretching from north Sumatra and south to the Indian Ocean, have been established. All those hundreds of thousand square kilometres traversing 11 national borders as well as deep and remote oceans would mean the need for more help from many more countries. Already, Wisma Putra has briefed the diplomats of the countries concerned. Given the militarily sensitive nature of information sought, much diplomacy is needed before it will be divulged, even on humanitarian grounds, because only primary radar -- military ones -- would have been able to read the flight path taken.
The Indians have suspended their search in the seas around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands until further news from the Malaysian authorities. Vietnam has stopped looking because the decision to stop searching in the South China Sea has been made. Singapore has already notified Putrajaya that its generosity will continue. Of course, China, with half the passengers on board being its nationals, will not stop. The continued assistance of the United States, meanwhile, with its naval base in the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and its huge naval assets already in the region, will be invaluable. Thankfully, thus far, those with the pertinent wherewithal have been more than ready to lend a helping hand and despite media reports of friction, the progress achieved indicates that cooperation, rather than vexation, has characterised the multinational SAR mission. Now, their focus must shift to new westward locations. MH370, therefore, has proved humanity to be bigger than narrow strategic national interests.
Read more: Humanitarian collaboration - Editorial - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/editorial/humanitarian-collaboration-1.516717#ixzz2wCQICyu1
No comments:
Post a Comment