[ AP ] Indonesia, Singapore sign key defense, extradition treaties

The agreement on defense cooperation — along with separate treaties on extradition and airspace rights — were signed in the presence of Indonesian President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The defense cooperation agreement will significantly boost Singapore’s ability to carry out naval and military exercises amid regional tensions over China’s rise. The island city-state lacks maritime, land and airspace to effectively train its military. Indonesia, which holds huge land and maritime areas, has agreed to let Singapore carry out naval exercises with other nations in the Bravo area of the South China Sea four times a year — terms which previously riled up Indonesian lawmakers.

In return, Singapore has agreed to limit its airspace rights and cede air traffic control in the Riau region and over some parts of Indonesia’s Borneo — areas that the International Civil Aviation Organization assigned to Singapore’s aviation authority in 1946 despite Indonesia’s later opposition. Under the new Flight Information Region (FIR) scheme, Singapore’s air rights only reach to within 90 nautical miles of Indonesia’s airspace.