SINGAPORE - The agreement between Singapore and Indonesia to realign flight information region (FIR) boundaries will be a balm for bilateral relations as it removes a bone of contention for Jakarta, said analysts on Wednesday (Jan 26).
The FIR agreement, as well as the defence and extradition agreements both countries signed on Tuesday, opens a new page for a "cooperative security" mindset in which both countries work with each other for mutual security, they added.
Under the FIR agreement, the boundary between the Singapore FIR and Jakarta FIR is realigned to be generally in accordance with Indonesia’s territorial boundaries. Indonesia will delegate parts of its realigned FIR to Singapore to provide air navigation services.
The three agreements on longstanding bilateral issues were signed at the annual Leaders' Retreat in Bintan between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Describing the pacts as a "carefully negotiated and balanced set of agreements", PM Lee said both sides' important interests and concerns have been met.
The consent for Singapore to provide air navigation services for parts of the airspace within the realigned Jakarta FIR is for a period of 25 years, extendable by mutual consent.
National University of Singapore Law School professor Alan Tan, who specialises in aviation law, said this means that while Singapore will lose parts of its FIR under the pact, it will still get to manage the parts of the airspace that are critical to the safe and efficient running of its airports.
"This will ensure continued safety and efficiency of air traffic control in the skies above and around Singapore for the next quarter of a century, and hopefully beyond," he added.
Airspace around the world is divided into FIRs, which are then assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to different countries to manage.
Singapore's FIR currently overlaps parts of Indonesia's airspace, and Singapore has been managing flights in these areas since 1946.
Prof Tan said the exercise of air traffic control responsibilities is an ICAO-approved exercise of administrative responsibilities, and does not affect or compromise the sovereign status of another country's airspace.
He added: "This is a regular phenomenon worldwide, where the FIR of one country commonly overlaps with the sovereign airspace of others.
"That said, the Singapore FIR has long irked politicians in neighbouring countries, since flights in their own airspace requires coordination with Singapore air traffic control. The new arrangement should thus be seen as a stabilising solution to calm such bilateral irritations."
Associate Professor Leonard Sebastian from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University agreed the overall result was beneficial for Singapore as it would retain its importance and relevance as an aviation hub in the region.
"Singapore will continue to regulate the entry and exit of flights to and from Changi Airport." said Prof Sebastian, who is Coordinator of the Indonesia Programme at RSIS. He noted that the agreement sets a new tone, with both countries performing a "co-managing role" over the airspace.
Indonesia will also deploy personnel to Singapore to work with air traffic controllers under the pact, and this will "reduce noise and friction at the operational level in the long run", he noted.
In the other agreements, Singapore and Indonesia concluded a treaty that will allow for the extradition of fugitives to Indonesia, and signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) on military training and exercises in Indonesia.
The issue of extradition has also been a sticking point for Jakarta, which has been keen to bring back wealthy Indonesians alleged to have embezzled large sums of money.
The extradition treaty was first signed in 2007 along with the DCA but was never ratified as lawmakers opposing then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had blocked the latter.
Prof Sebastian, noting that there are no significant changes to the extradition treaty and the defence agreement, said conditions for ratification at this time would be more favourable, given the presence of a large pro-Jokowi coalition of parties in Parliament.
Even so, he cautioned, it was too early to conclude that the process will be smooth sailing, since political dynamics in Indonesia involve a wide variety of views and interest groups.
On the signing of the three agreements, Prof Sebastian said it constitutes a commitment of both countries to strengthen bilateral ties.
He added: "More significantly, its opens a new page for what I would say is a 'cooperative security' mindset - where mutual security is gained from working with each other rather than against each other."
