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Indonesia to take over airspace from Singapore in quid-pro-quo deal
For the airspace deal to come into effect, Indonesia would have to ratify it alongside a revised extradition treaty and renewed commitment to a defense agreement, Singapore's leader has said.
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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong takes a "wefie" photo with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on the sidelines of their leaders retreat on Bintan Island on Tuesday. (Courtesy of/Presidential Secretariat)
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ndonesia has struck a deal with Singapore to take over the management of strategic airspace over a busy global travel route, the leaders of the two countries said, after years of dogged negotiations.
However, Singapore also insisted that the deal to realign the Flight Information Region (FIR) should come into effect alongside a revised extradition treaty and renewed commitment to a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), which had fallen by the wayside since 2007. The new deal puts pressure on Indonesian lawmakers to ratify all agreements at once.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the agreement on Tuesday on the resort island of Bintan, Riau Islands province, located just an hour’s ferry ride away from the city state, where they resumed an annual leader’s retreat after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee said he welcomed the signing of the documents covering such “long-standing issues” in the two country’s relations, assuring that the agreement would meet civil aviation needs of both countries and uphold safety and efficiency in accordance with the rules laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
“What remains will be for both countries to complete our domestic processes to ratify and bring the set of agreements into force,” he said in a joint press statement with Jokowi, after their meeting.
For his part, Jokowi trumpeted the achievement that Indonesia would soon have control over its entire airspace, “especially over waters around the Riau archipelago and the Natuna Islands” – the site of recent tensions over sovereign rights with neighbor states.
“In the future, it is hoped that cooperation in law enforcement, aviation safety and defense and security of the two countries can continue to be strengthened based on the principle of mutual benefit,” the President said.
