Jakarta. The Indonesian government made another clarification to the reports of a plan that would let American military planes easily fly over its airspace, saying that it was Washington that first pitched the idea amidst concerns of the unrestricted access being used in the Iran war.

The New Delhi-based news outlet Sunday Guardian revealed over the weekend that Washington had sought the so-called “blanket overflight access” deal with Indonesia based on a classified US defense document. In short, this will enable US military planes to transit directly upon notification rather than a case-by-case clearance. The report claimed that Indonesia would make this scheme available for contingency operations, crisis response purposes, and mutually agreed exercise-related activities.

The Defense Ministry already denied that the deal was reaching finalization, although the statement failed to cool down public wrath. Indonesia elevated its defense ties with the US within less than 24 hours after the clarification, further putting the government in hot water. Defense Ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait reiterated that the overflight clearance, which is still a letter of intent draft, is nascent.

“It was the US that proposed this [overflight access]. It eventually became a subject of internal consideration within the Indonesian government,” Rico told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

He went on to explain that Indonesia reviews the proposal “carefully” by keeping in mind national interests, foreign policy principles, and state sovereignty. Rico said that Jakarta had made “some important adjustments” to the draft, but did not go into details on the changes made.

“The document is non-binding. It doesn’t automatically take effect. It still requires further discussions via technical mechanism and existing national procedures,” Rico added.

He went on to explain that any cooperation must not undermine Indonesia’s “free and active” foreign policy. This decades-old stance has seen Indonesia trying to strike a balance in its relations with great powers. 

However, criticisms continue to rush in, with some pointing out that the proposal could be part of US President Donald Trump’s strategy to secure a tactical advantage in his war against Iran. For the past 46 days, the US and Israel have been fighting against Iran in a war that has fueled a global energy crunch. They are now on a fragile ceasefire.

Hikmahanto Juwana, an international relations analyst at the University of Indonesia, warned that a military aircraft transit deal could paint Jakarta as being on the US’ side.

“Iran will assume that Indonesia is giving room for the US to launch its strikes on Tehran,” Hikmahanto said.

“The military planes from US bases in the Asia Pacific and Australia will have to transit via Indonesian airspace if they want to join the Middle East bases to attack Iran. That’s why we shouldn’t grant the blanket overflight access.”