ndonesia has long been proud of its bebas aktif (free and active), non-aligned foreign policy when navigating the games of great powers, signifying that the country does not take sides but instead actively participates in maintaining global peace and order. After 10 years of an alleged pivot to China under the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration, under President Prabowo Subianto the pendulum now appears to be swinging back toward the United States.
This is no exaggeration: Prabowo has twice prioritized US strategic interests at the expense of Indonesian sovereignty. Having just signed the controversial Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) in February, he reportedly approved “blanket overflight access” for US military aircraft during a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump at the much-criticized Board of Peace in Washington.
The US Defense Department, which was recently rebranded as the War Department, sent a document titled “Operationalizing U.S. Overflight” to the Indonesian Defense Ministry on Feb. 26. The document proposes a formal understanding under which Indonesia would permit US military aircraft to transit its airspace for contingency operations, crisis response missions and mutually agreed military exercises.
The Defense Ministry, however, refutes the claim, stating that the draft was still in the early stages of internal and inter-agency discussion. It maintains that the proposal is non-binding and that the ministry will always uphold Indonesia’s sovereignty. Furthermore, the ministry insists that every defense cooperation agreement prioritizes national interests and adheres strictly to both national and international law.
The military overflight arrangement was not mentioned in the joint statement that followed the signing of the Major Defense Partnership between the two countries during the visit of Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to Washington, DC, on Tuesday. However, as reported by Reuters, the overflights’ omission from the statement did not mean they were not discussed privately.
If it materializes, such blanket access carries the risk that Indonesia will be viewed as a US ally at a time when the tension of great power rivalry is escalating in the Indo-Pacific region. Furthermore, Jakarta will be labeled an accomplice in the unjust war the US is waging in support of Israel’s bid to expand its domination in the Middle East. This is especially critical following Prabowo’s failure to offer immediate condolences for the assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the three Indonesian peacekeepers serving under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Every Thursday
While Prabowo did attend the ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers, he remained silent on the tragedy and did not condemn Israel, unlike the Spanish Prime Minister, who spoke out forcefully against Israeli actions.
