Indonesia, Singapore sign key defense, extradition agreements

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during their annual leaders' retreat at the Indonesian island of Bintan in Riau, Indonesia. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 25 January 2022
Follow

Indonesia, Singapore sign key defense, extradition agreements

  • The agreements were signed during President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s annual leaders’ retreat
  • Lee said they represent a ‘major step forward’ in bilateral relations

JAKARTA: Indonesia and Singapore signed on Tuesday a series of agreements covering extradition, defense and airspace management in what is seen as a “major step forward” in relations between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

The deals were signed by senior cabinet ministers following a meeting between President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Indonesia’s Bintan island as part of their annual leader’s retreat.

“Today, our bilateral relations take a major step forward,” Lee said during a joint press statement aired on Indonesia’s State Secretariat YouTube channel.

Both countries agreed to realign the boundary of their respective flight information regions while further strengthening cooperation and fostering closer interaction between their armed forces through a defense cooperation agreement.

“Going forward, we hope that the cooperation in law enforcement, aviation safety, as well as defense and security of the two countries will continue to be strengthened based on the principle of mutual benefit,” Widodo said.

Fitri Bintang, a researcher at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Jakarta, told Arab News that today’s milestones are “signs of maturing relations” between Indonesia and Singapore.

The two countries also inked an extradition agreement, under which they can grant the extradition of fugitives for a comprehensive list of offenses committed up to 18 years ago.

“The extradition treaty will enhance cooperation in combating crime and send a clear, positive signal to investors,” Lee said.

Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said in a statement that the extradition treaty will act as a deterrent for criminals in Indonesia and Singapore.

“If the two countries ratify the extradition treaty soon, then the law enforcement agencies of both countries can make use of this treaty to prevent and combat transnational crimes like corruption and terrorism,” he added.

Indonesia has already signed similar treaties with other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China.

Indonesia and Singapore must now conclude their respective domestic processes to ratify and bring the agreements into force, which for these three agreements in particular, officials agreed must occur simultaneously.


Iran says committed to diplomacy but acts in ‘self-defense’ against Israel

Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Iran says committed to diplomacy but acts in ‘self-defense’ against Israel

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday his country has remained committed to “diplomacy” but will continue to act in “self-defense” following Israel’s surprise attack nearly a week ago.
“Iran solely acts in self-defense. Even in the face of the most outrageous aggression against our people, Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it,” said Araghchi in a post on X.
“With the exception of the illegitimate, genocidal and occupying Israeli regime, we remain committed to diplomacy,” he added.


Putin says NATO rearmament not a ‘threat’ to Russia

Updated 4 min 47 sec ago
Follow

Putin says NATO rearmament not a ‘threat’ to Russia

Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that NATO’s push to ramp up defense spending was not a “threat” to Russia, as Moscow had all the weapons it needed to defend itself.
“We do not consider any rearmament by NATO to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our own security,” Putin told reporters, including AFP, at a televised press conference in Saint Petersburg.
He added that Russia was “constantly modernizing our armed forces and defensive capabilities.”


Trump rebuffs Putin offer to mediate Iran-Israel truce

Updated 8 min 37 sec ago
Follow

Trump rebuffs Putin offer to mediate Iran-Israel truce

  • “He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own’,” Trump said

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump appeared Wednesday to rebuff Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying the Russian president should end his own war in Ukraine first.

“I spoke to him yesterday and... he actually offered to help mediate, I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own,’” Trump told reporters as he unveiled a giant new flag pole at the White House.

“Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.”

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov disputed the timing that Trump gave for the call.

“He (Trump) was speaking figuratively. Life is so eventful right now that looking back a few days is like looking back to yesterday,” Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS.

Trump and the Kremlin both previously said on Saturday that the two leaders had spoken that day, with the US president saying Putin had called to wish him a happy 79th birthday.

Later on Wednesday, Trump said a change in Iran’s government “could happen,” and also indicated that negotiations could be on the horizon, without giving details.

“They want to meet, they want to come to the White House — I may do that,” Trump told reporters.

Trump meanwhile insisted that the stalled peace talks to end the Ukraine war were “going to work out” despite Moscow stepping up attacks.

The US president had vowed to end the war within 24 hours of taking office and made a major pivot toward Putin, but talks have so far made little progress.

Trump described the Ukraine war, sparked by Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor in 2022, as “so stupid.”


Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions

Updated 18 June 2025
Follow

Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions

  • Thai PM says leak shows ‘trust problem’ with Cambodian ex-premier

BANGKOK, Phnom Penh: Relations between Thailand and Cambodia suffered a major blow on Wednesday after a leak of a telephone conversation between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and influential former Cambodian Premier Hun Sen that could further escalate tensions. 

Ties between the two neighbors are at their worst in more than a decade after a row over border territory that has sparked fears of a military confrontation following a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric and the mobilization of troops on both sides of their frontier.

The leaked June 15 phone call, which has been confirmed as authentic by both Hun Sen and Paetongtarn, shows the Thai premier telling Hun Sen, whom she called uncle, that she is under domestic pressure and urging him not to listen to “the opposite side” which includes a prominent Thai military commander at the border.

“He just want to look cool and saying things that are not useful to the nation, but in truth what we want is peace,” she told Hun Sen through a translator in the leaked audio clip, referring to the general.

Paetongtarn later told reporters her conversation with Hun Sen was part of a negotiation tactic and she has no problem with the Thai army.

“I won’t be talking privately with him (Hun Sen) anymore because there is a trust problem,” she said.

Hun Sen said the leak came from one of the 80 politicians he shared the audio recording with. Self-styled strongman Hun Sen was Cambodia’s premier for nearly four decades and has maintained a high public profile since handing over power in 2023 to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet. 

The two governments had until recently enjoyed warm ties, helped by the close relationship between Hun Sen and Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s influential father. Both former leaders are still active in politics.

Fierce rhetoric

The leak could put that relationship in jeopardy and will add to speculation in Thailand that Paetongtarn and the powerful Thai military are at odds on how to respond to the border crisis with Cambodia.

Cambodia’s rhetoric has become more fierce in the past week, with Hun Sen blaming Thai “extremists” and the Thai army for stoking tensions, saying Paetongtarn’s government was “unable to control its military the way our country can.”

The billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the army, with two of its governments ousted by generals in coups in 2006 and 2014.

Lt. Gen. Boonsin Padklang, commander of Thailand’s Second Army Area overseeing the eastern border, on Wednesday told local media that Paetongtarn had called him to explain the leak.

“I don’t have any issue, I understand,” Boonsin said. The weeks-long standoff followed a brief border skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead. Both countries have called for calm while vowing to defend their sovereignty over contested stretches of a 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated. Attempts to settle the issue have failed, with Cambodia on Sunday delivering on its vow to seek resolution at the International Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which Thailand says it does not recognize.

On Wednesday, Cambodia’s defense ministry said Thailand had again violated its sovereignty with drone flights, trench digging and troop deployments, which Bangkok rejected.

Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organized march in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday to support the government, shouting slogans, waving national flags and holding portraits of Hun Manet and Hun Sen.

“Cambodia’s land! We won’t take others’ land, we keep our land!” some chanted.


France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency

Updated 18 June 2025
Follow

France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency

  • France, UK and Germany were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers
  • French president urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles

PARIS: France is planning along with European partners to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Wednesday.
At a national security council meeting, Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days “an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict,” it said, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
Barrot has been in regular touch with his German and British counterparts since Israel launched massive air strikes against Iran on Friday.
All three countries were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.
The United States withdrew from that accord during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Macron also urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voice “concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic program, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel,” his office said.
He said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security,” it added.
The French president also urged the foreign ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so, the Elysee added, without providing further details.