Foreign Minister's Explanation on US Military Airspace Access
Foreign Minister Sugiono stated that the government will prioritise national interests and sovereignty in the context of permitting overflights in Indonesian airspace. The minister made this statement in relation to plans for cooperation on comprehensive blanket overflight access in Indonesian airspace with the United States.
The politician from the Gerindra Party said that the airspace access cooperation is still merely an intention put forward by the United States. “Which will then go through discussion processes and mechanisms. The mechanisms, how they work, and so on, are in Indonesia,” Sugiono said after a press conference at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, 22 April 2026.
He added, “I think sovereignty and national interests will certainly be the primary consideration.”
According to Sugiono, the concept of such airspace access is not new in inter-state relations. Indonesia, he emphasised, is a country that adheres to an independent and active foreign policy. “Similar agreements, if carried out with other countries, well, there’s no problem, right? The mechanisms, the implementation, and so on,” he said.
Sugiono also urged that this matter not be perceived as something that would threaten the sovereignty of the homeland and drag Indonesia into the vortex of global conflicts. “With the world situation like this, Indonesia, whether it wants to or not, will be affected by whatever happens in the world,” Sugiono said.
The issue originated from reports by foreign media revealing secret documents regarding the United States’ efforts to obtain blanket overflight access in Indonesian airspace.
As reported by the online media The Sunday Guardian on Sunday, 12 April 2026, there is a secret US defence document to secure overflight access for US military aircraft through Indonesian airspace. The document is said to follow the meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., in February.
Head of the Defence Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, said that the proposal regarding overflight permits in Indonesian airspace for the US military is still being discussed internally by the government. According to him, the cooperation is a proposal from Uncle Sam.
He said the government is still carefully reviewing the content of the offered cooperation. In the discussions, Rico assured that Indonesia has made several important adjustments.
“The document is also non-binding and does not automatically take effect, and still requires further discussion through applicable technical mechanisms and national procedures,” Rico said in a press statement on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.