Vivian Balakrishnan says freedom of navigation is ‘of profound importance’ because it affects the Straits of Malacca and Singapore
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenCNAPublished: 9:16am, 8 Apr 2026Singapore will not negotiate for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as doing so would undermine fundamental principles of international law, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has said.Responding to a parliamentary question on Tuesday by Member of Parliament Fadli Fawzi on whether Singapore would engage Iran or consider paying a toll for its vessels, Balakrishnan stressed that transit through such waterways was a right – not a privilege.
“There is a right of transit passage,” he said. “It is not a privilege to be granted by the bordering state, it’s not a licence to be supplicated for, it is not a toll to be paid.”
He emphasised that the Strait of Hormuz, like the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore, was a waterway used for international navigation. This right is codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), to which Singapore is a signatory.
Balakrishnan added that the principle applied even to states that had not ratified Unclos, saying that it is not a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for them.
