Hormuz blockade stirs tension over Malacca strait near Singapore

Shortly afterwards, Indonesia’s Defence Ministry confirmed it was weighing a proposal from the Trump administration that could allow US military overflights through Indonesian airspace. That sparked a debate within the country’s military establishment.

Arm Oke Kistiyanto, a colonel in Indonesia’s armed forces, published a lengthy assessment on a military website suggesting that an overflight deal could pull the nation into regional contingencies beyond its control while posing an “entrapment risk”.

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“Airspace is a core domain of state sovereignty,” he wrote. “When access to that domain is requested by a major power, what is at stake is not only the passage permit, but also the strategic significance of that permit: who gains operational benefits, how other countries interpret it, and whether the decision is consistent with Indonesia’s foreign policy orientation.”

That assessment “reflects internal resistance,” said Anastasia Febiola S, an Indonesian defence expert and country manager of Mirage Defence for Indonesia. “For Indonesia, it is about reputation, if not pride – the respect of other countries towards Indonesia’s sovereign rights and interests.”

One Indonesian government official with knowledge of defence matters, who requested anonymity to speak about sensitive issues, said the new deal with the US is more about scaling up existing cooperation than any strategic shift. Indonesia’s priority is keeping the strait stable and conflict-free, and there’s no appetite to be seen as facilitating US pressure on other countries, the official said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s Defence Ministry said the US agreement would open up “more targeted opportunities in defence modernisation, capacity building, professional military education and training, as well as exercises and operational cooperation”.

“All of its implementation remains within the framework of national interests, a free and active foreign policy, respect for national sovereignty, and in accordance with the official mechanisms of the Indonesian government,” the spokesperson said.

Separately, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said that the overflight proposal is still under consideration and “there is no policy granting unrestricted access for any foreign party to utilise Indonesia’s airspace.”

While Hormuz remains the world’s most sensitive energy artery, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil flows, Malacca is the primary conduit for Asia’s manufacturing and energy supply chains, with about 82,000 vessel transits annually. The Strait of Malacca is also more than five times longer than the Strait of Hormuz, providing ample scope for disruption.

The maritime security debate extends beyond Indonesia, with the Hormuz crisis exposing differing philosophies between Singapore and neighbouring Malaysia.

Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, responding to a question in parliament last week about whether the city-state would ever negotiate with Iran for safe passage or pay tolls, stressed that transit passage is guaranteed under international law and that any such arrangements would set a dangerous precedent for the Malacca Strait.

“It is not a privilege to be granted by the bordering state, it is not a license to be supplicated for, it is not a toll be paid,” he told lawmakers. “It is a right of ships to traverse.”

The comments rankled some in Malaysia, which recently secured passage of its ships through Hormuz after high-level talks between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“Malaysia will not be lectured on the merits of engagement,” Nurul Izzah Anwar, Anwar’s daughter and the deputy president of the ruling People’s Justice Party, said in response to Balakrishnan’s comments. “We choose dialogue because history has shown that disengagement invites escalation.” BLOOMBERG