Singapore's Defence Minister has called for patience and goodwill in reaching a "good agreement" with Indonesia on the Extradition Treatry and defence pact.

Mr Teo Chee Hean added that Singapore should also try to be as accommodating as possible and understand the internal processes that are going on in Indonesia.

He said this when responding to questions from MPs in Parliament today. They wanted to know the timeline for concluding the stalled Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia. One MP even suggested that Singapore impose a validity period since Indonesia is seemingly dragging its feet to wrap up the two agreements.

Replying, Mr Teo said: "I think in such matters, certain amount of goodwill and patience is always necessary. And, we try our best to understand the internal processes that are going on in the Indonesia of today, and to accommodate them as much as posssible.

"So I think that for this process, the approach that we would take is to exercise as much goodwill and as much patience as possible, continue to demonstrate our will to want to work closely with Indonesia, and to conclude a good agreement.

"I think this is the only way we can progress and move forward in our relations with our friends in Indonesia."

In his response, Mr Teo gave the House a sense of how the negotiated package came about, a flavour of the discussions and the complexity of the negotiations which took many rounds.

The two countries signed the Defence Cooperation Agreement on April 27, alongside a landmark extradition treaty, after more than 18 months of talks.

But the signing of the IAs detailing specific areas of cooperation was delayed because Indonesia requested last-minute changes, the Singapore government has said.

The Defence Minister also urged Indonesia to look at the substantive offer Singapore had made, which he said would address most of the concerns.

Click HERE for Minister's speech in Parliament.