Visitors stand next to a static US Navy aircraft the Poseidon P-8, left, and the USAF Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, right, on the tarmac during the Singapore Airshow in Singapore on February 11, 2020 [File: Roslan Rahman/AFP]
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia rejected this year a proposal by the United States to allow its P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance planes to land and refuel there, according to four senior Indonesian officials familiar with the matter.
U.S. officials made multiple “high-level” approaches in July and August to Indonesia’s defence and foreign ministers before Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, rebuffed the request, the officials said.
Representatives for Indonesia’s president and defence minister, the U.S. State Department press office and the U.S. embassy in Jakarta did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives for the U.S. Department of Defence and Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Marsudi declined to comment.
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Update #1: Indonesia rebuffed US proposal for refueling spy planes: report (The Hill)
Update #2: Indonesia rejected US request to host spy planes (Al Jazeera)
WNU Editor: I am sure this will be brought up when US Secretary of State Pompeo visits next week .... Pompeo to Visit Indonesia After Spy Plane Rebuff (US News and World Report/Reuters).
