TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsUS overflight proposal sparks ministerial rift
The Foreign Ministry previously sent a letter to the Defense Ministry to warn that the United States proposal for an overflight access for its military aircraft may drag Indonesia to potential retaliation in the event of wider conflicts.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
United States Air Force and Navy aircraft perform a flyover on Feb. 8 above Levi's Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California, the US. (AFP/Josh Edelson)
T
he Foreign Ministry has asserted that all cooperation with foreign powers, including the United States, will strictly uphold national sovereignty, following reports of the ministry’s competing views with the Defense Ministry over a proposed overflight access agreement with Washington.
Noting that communication between ministries is a standard procedure in policymaking, the Foreign Ministry said considerations over clear mechanisms and procedures for the potential arrangement were still ongoing across government bodies, with the current geopolitical landscape part of the government’s deliberations.
“On the issue of overflight, regulatory mechanisms are still being carefully reviewed, with national interests, Indonesia’s airspace sovereignty and the principles of its free and active foreign policy serving as primary foundations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said in a statement on Wednesday.
“All input and views exchanged among agencies are a normal part of the national process. Any proposals still under discussion will be handled carefully and methodically,” she went on to say.
Read also: Sovereignty concerns loom over new security pact with US
Scrutiny has intensified over the past week on Indonesia’s relations with the US following reports of a potential arrangement to grant Washington blanket overflight access to Indonesian airspace, a scheme that sparked concerns over Jakarta’s sovereignty.
The US demand, as reported by India-based media outlet The Sunday Guardian, would grant American aircraft broad, precleared access under a notification system, allowing transit with prior notification for contingency operations, crisis-response missions and mutually approved military exercises.
