Connie Rahakundini Bakrie: There is no automatic right to cross the peaceful foreign military aircraft 

International relations academic Prof. Connie Rahakundini Bakrie in a public discussion held by the Indonesia Youth Congress in Jakarta, Wednesday (29/4/2026). (ANTARA-HO-Indonesia Youth Congress)

JAKARTA - International relations academic Prof. Connie Rahakundini Bakrie emphasized that there is no automatic right of peaceful passage for foreign military aircraft so that every access must be through explicit permission from the sovereign state.

"Air sovereignty is a fundamental principle in international law that cannot be negotiated, especially in the midst of discussions on foreign military access cooperation by the Ministry of Defense (MoD)," said Prof. Connie in a public discussion in Jakarta, Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.

He referred to the 1944 Chicago Convention which states that every country has full and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

In the doctrine of international air law, he said, the main principle is firmly embedded in the Convention on International Civil Aviation or the Chicago Convention.

It is said that Article 1 of the convention affirms that each country has full and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory, which is different from the sea which recognizes the principle of mare liberum (open), where the airspace is closed.

Connie warned that granting blanket clearance without evaluating the case by case could potentially pose a number of threats.

The threat in question is opening up opportunities for foreign aircraft to conduct routine intelligence gathering in Indonesian territory and enabling the mapping of defense installations and strategic infrastructure.

Then, he continued, another threat is the increased risk of security disturbances to national military operations, including in emergency situations.

Thus, he assessed that the practice could slowly erode the air sovereignty that had been guaranteed in the Chicago Convention.

"This is not just a defense cooperation. This can be a form of disguised strategic control," he said.

For this reason, he said, Indonesia could cooperate as long as it did not sacrifice the principle of sovereignty because sovereignty and national dignity were not comparable to security assistance in any form.

It was emphasized that the dignity of the nation was much more expensive than the assistance that sacrificed sovereignty so that Indonesia should not surrender "the sky".

In addition, Connie also touched on the concept he developed, namely "Rahakundinisme", in which the approach explicitly rejects the logic of unilateral access that has the potential to weaken state sovereignty.

"Air sovereignty must be maintained through strict supervision, equal multilateral cooperation, and rejection of unilateral access," Connie emphasized.

Previously, Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and TNI veterans discussed a Letter of Intent (Lol) or a letter of intent regarding the air traffic permit submitted by the United States.

The discussion took place when Sjafrie gathered retired people, most of whom were former TNI Commanders and chief of staff at the Ministry of Defense office, Central Jakarta, Friday (24/4).

The Head of the Defense Information Bureau (Karo Infohan) of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait, explained that during the meeting, the veterans provided analysis and suggestions regarding the LoI submitted by the Americans.

The variety of analysis was given on the basis of consideration of the interests of national defense. However, Rico did not explain in detail the analysis given by the retired generals to Sjafrie and the TNI officials.

Rico ensured that all the suggestions, criticisms, and analyses provided by the veterans would be one of the government's considerations in determining the strategic steps ahead.