Indonesia warns against US military overflight deal
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- Indonesia's foreign ministry sent an urgent, confidential letter in early April urging the defence ministry to delay any final agreement on a US "blanket" military overflight proposal, warning it could entangle Jakarta in South China Sea conflicts
- The letter said the deal would create "the impression that Indonesia is involved in an alliance" with heightened security risks and could damage relations with China and other strategic regional partners
- The overflight proposal was slated for signing at an April 13 Washington meeting between Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; the Pentagon's post-meeting statement announced a "major defence cooperation partnership" but made no mention of overflights
- The foreign ministry documented 18 US military surveillance flights over Indonesian waters between January 2024 and April 2025, calling them violations of sovereignty; Indonesia's protests received no proper US response, the letter stated
- Indonesia controls the Natuna Islands at the southern entry point of the South China Sea, a waterway carrying over US$3 trillion in annual commerce, and pursues a non-aligned policy under President Prabowo Subianto
- Prabowo made Beijing his first presidential foreign visit in 2024, attended Xi Jinping's late-2025 military parade alongside Putin and Kim Jong Un, and committed Indonesia's largest troop contingent to Trump's Board of Peace Gaza stabilization force
Why it matters: Indonesia sits astride a South China Sea chokepoint carrying $3 trillion in annual trade and has long balanced Washington and Beijing. The foreign ministry's pushback against a US overflight deal exposes strain in Jakarta's non-aligned posture under Pentagon access demands—complicating surveillance near the Natuna Islands while risking a rift with China, Prabowo's largest economic partner.
