Singapore has not asked for changes to the terms that have been agreed on in the bilateral defence pact with Indonesia, and is keen to move the process forward, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here today.

Responding to Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono's remarks that Singapore is deliberately making an issue of an area in the South China Sea allocated military training, to stall the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and avoid signing an Extradiction Treaty (ET), the spokesman said:

"Minister Juwono should be fully aware of the contents of the DCA, which he signed, and the 4 Implementing Agreements (IAs) which were agreed to on April 23 in Singapore.

"Contrary to what he is reported to have said, Singapore has made no new requests of Indonesia. Rather it is Indonesia which refused on May 7 to sign the IAs which had been agreed on April 23, and asked for substantive changes to the documents. This is the crux of the matter."

At a lecture to civil servants in Jakarta on Tuesday, Dr Juwono accused Singapore of trying to scuttle the defence pact to avoid signing the Extradition Treaty.

He said Singapore had asked for 15 days a month for military exercises in the Bravo area, which is not acceptable to Indonesia because of the impact on the environment, fishermen's livelihood and common security. He added that Jakarta had sent a proposal on the terms of training in Indonesia but Singapore had not responded.

In response, the Singapore's MFA spokesman said that Indonesia had repeatedly assured Singapore that it would not depart from what was agreed upon.

"With that assurance, and in the spirit of friendship and cooperation, Singapore had made a proposal to Indonesia on how to move the process forward. We are still waiting for Indonesia's reply," he said.

The defence pact and extradition treaty were signed as a package in April between the two countries. But it has yet to be ratified.

Analysts see Dr Juwono's remarks as aimed at placating local politicians who had lambasted him in Parliament for failing to protect Indonesia's interests.

Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has reiterated that Singapore's position was that the pacts were settled and the terms could not be changed without putting the whole package at risk.