Indonesia signs a big US defense pact, then meets Putin

On 13 April 2026, Indonesia signed a major defense pact with the United States at the Pentagon, even as President Prabowo Subianto was in Moscow meeting Russia's Vladimir Putin the very same day. As Al Jazeera reports, the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership covers military modernization, joint special-forces training, advanced sea and drone technology, and bigger joint exercises. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it "bolsters regional deterrence."

But the deal came with friction over sovereignty. Days earlier, a leaked proposal showed Washington asking for "blanket" permission for US military aircraft to fly across Indonesian airspace in a crisis. Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said the idea "remains under internal consideration" and stressed the country's sovereignty, while the Defense Ministry called it only a non-binding draft. China warned that defense cooperation "should not target or harm third parties," and some Indonesian officials privately worried the plan could pull Jakarta into tensions in the South China Sea.

The timing, a US pact and a Putin meeting on the same day, captures Indonesia's balancing act. The country signs deals with Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, and others while refusing to pick a side. One analyst, Rahman Yaacob of the Lowy Institute, asked whether this is "a sophisticated hedging strategy, or drifting without a clear strategic compass." Public feeling is mixed too: a 2026 survey found that if forced to choose, about 80 percent of Indonesians would pick China over the United States.

Why it matters

For Indonesia, closer defense ties with the US can mean better training and equipment, but the overflight request shows the catch: partnership can test the country's control over its own skies. How Jakarta handles that will signal how far it will go with Washington without upsetting China, its biggest trading partner. Watch what happens to the overflight proposal, because that is where sovereignty meets alliance.