Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has ruled out joint naval patrols with Singapore in the Malacca Straits, saying that the territorial integrity of both countries must be respected.

"At the moment, we are not considering joint patrols," he told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with his Singapore counterpart Tony Tan, who is on a three-day visit to Malaysia.

However, both countries agreed to increase cooperation to fight terrorism and improve maritime security, particularly in the pirate-infested Malacca Straits amid signs of improving bilateral ties.

The meeting between the two underlined the importance of boosting security cooperation to curb the threat of terrorism.

"We agree that cooperation should not stop where it is at now but we should review and explore new ways to enhance cooperation in the field of security."

Najib, who is also defence minister, said armed forces officials from both countries would soon meet to identify new ways to bolster security, especially maritime security.

"We are fairly confident, we are on top of things but we are not taking anything for granted," he said, adding that "our main concern is the question of maritime security."

Malaysia has not suffered any terror attacks on its soil but has detained some 90 alleged militants suspected of belonging to regional militant groups such as the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which carried out the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia which killed 202 people.

Fears of terror attacks

The narrow, 960-kilometre waterway, through which about half the world's oil supplies and a third of global trade passes, runs along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore recently launched year-round coordinated naval patrols in the strait.

Singapore and the United States have expressed fears of terror attacks involving hijacked ships in the strait.

Pirate attacks in the straits rose 33 percent between January and June from a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau said yesterday.

Tan, who is also Singapore's coordinating minister for security and defence, said cooperation would continue to strengthen as the neighbours faced new terror threats.

"The field of security and defence keeps on changing. We face new threats fighting against radical terrorism. We have to work together," he said.

Tan said defence and security officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia would get together to exchange ideas to strengthen cooperation.

"We agreed we should move forward from the coordinated patrols in order to see what the three of us can take to enhance security," he said.

Prime terrorist target

Tan recently said Singapore, which is currently detaining 37 alleged militants, remained a prime terrorist target.

In an indication ties between the two were improving, Najib said he and Tan had been working very closely together for many years.

"Relations between Malaysia and Singapore are very good and certainly in areas of security and defence, our two ministries have engaged in many programmes," Tan said.

Relations have been prickly since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965.