Indonesia is the world’s largest and most important archipelagic State. Because it sits as the fulcrum between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, passage through and over the Indonesian archipelago is critically important to naval powers and maritime commerce. Indonesia played a significant role in negotiating the modern law of the sea, especially the regimes governing archipelagic States and straits used for international navigation. As a major beneficiary of the new law of the sea, Indonesia recognises that it is in its national interest to promote the rules-based legal order established in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Consequently, Indonesia continues to work with other States and with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to develop the legal regimes established in UNCLOS. It has taken the lead in working with the imo on the designation of archipelagic sea lanes through its archipelagic waters, and it is now working with the IMO to adopt measures to protect the marine environment and enhance the safety of navigation in the routes used for international navigation through its archipelago.