Soekarno And Nikita Khrushchev's Friendship Led To The First Presidential Plane

JAKARTA - The friendship between the first President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno and the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, is well known. Both represent the warm relationship between Jakarta and Moscow. Indonesia is the one who has benefited the most. Khrushchev helped Indonesia a lot – from the military to development. Also, thanks to the closeness of the two, Indonesia has the first presidential plane known as Dolok Marimbang.

The similarity of mindset between Soekarno-Khrushchev cannot be doubted. Both are consistently opposed to colonialism and imperialism. He also made the United Nations (UN) nervous. Khrushchev openly called the Filipino delegate Lorenzo Sumulong who insulted the Soviet Union as a colonial state a 'asshole, henchman, errand boy,' and 'a sycophant of American imperialism.' Soekarno was even more sadistic by taking Indonesia out of the United Nations because of the formation of a British puppet state: the Federation of Malaysia.

In fact, Soekarno-Khrushchev's closeness had existed for a long time. In fact, since Khrushchev was still the supreme leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1953-1954), he had not been Prime Minister of the Soviet Union. The fruit, Indonesia is like a collapsed durian. Funds continued to flow into the Indonesian treasury. Most importantly, Indonesia received a gift from the Soviet Union in the form of an Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft.

The aircraft handover ceremony was held at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Military Base airport on January 24, 1957. Then, Soekarno entrusted the maintenance of the aircraft to the Air Force of the Republic of Indonesia (AURI).

“After the ambassador of the Soviet Union handed over the plane in a short speech, the President went up to the podium. The President thanked the ambassador for this gift from the Soviet government. He thanked the Soviet government and its people. The president later recalled the warm welcome during his visit to the Soviet Union and was well received."

“With regard to domestic, the President said that there are still many differences between Indonesia's population of 80 million people. But according to the president, this doesn't surprise me, because we are still young. Therefore, I call on the people to restore unity and continue to fight together," wrote the report of the oldest newspaper in Jakarta, Java Bode, on January 24, 1957.

The handover of the plane prize was witnessed by the Ambassador of the Soviet Union, Zhukov. Not to forget high-ranking Indonesian officials from ministers to the Air Force chief of staff were also present. As already prepared, Bung Karno immediately named the plane given by the Soviet Union the name of Mount in North Sumatra, Dolok Marimbang.

Giving the name was not without reason. Bung Karno also gave his own reason for naming Dolok Marimbang for the Indonesian presidential plane. However, the aircraft was only officially used for the first time by Bung Karno as a presidential plane on his planned official visit to Surakarta and Bali which began on April 16, 1957 (Java Bode, April 13, 1957).

“In Tapanuli there is an area with mountains and valleys, which according to legend, are constantly fighting with each other. And it was Dolok Marimbang who could reunite them. That's why I gave this IL-14 aircraft the name Dolok Marimbang. With this Dolok Marimbang I hope to give me the strength to reunify and strengthen the Indonesian people, not only for their own prosperity, but also for the happiness of mankind," said Bung Karno in a speech at the plane handover ceremony.

The closeness between Indonesia and the Soviet Union was strengthened when Khrushchev served as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1958-1964). It was seen that the two leaders visited each other.

The visit was initiated by Soekarno who came to Moscow in 1956. After that, Khrushchev returned to visit Indonesia on February 18, 1960. The two-week visit will go down in history as the first visit of a superpower leader in the archipelago.

“President Soekarno's three visits to the Soviet Union in the period 1956-1964 were able to melt political tensions in parliament. President Soekarno's 14-day visit in 1956 resulted in an agreement with the Soviet Union on the principles of peaceful coexistence," said Tomi Lebang in Sahabat Lama, New Era: 60 years of ups and downs in Indonesia-Russia relations (2010).

“This agreement further strengthens Indonesia's position as the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. The return visit of three high-ranking Soviet Union officials to Indonesia, including Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev (1960), added to the strength of the friendship between the two countries," he wrote.

While in Indonesia, Khrushchev who brought a large group visited many places, such as Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Maluku. Due to historical events, quite a lot of journalists covered. It was recorded that 89 journalists from various countries joined the Nikita Safari. Each as a journalist for radio, television, print media, and cameraman.

In Indonesia, Khrushchev was treated very lively. Soekarno himself intervened to prepare everything so that Khrushchev was comfortable in Indonesia. To the extent that Soekarno took out 14 paintings from his personal collection to be used as decorations in the banquet hall. In which, in the middle of the painting, the protocol-officer stated that: some of the paintings were made by Sukarno himself.

Senior journalist, Rosihan Anwar, who participated in covering Nikita Khrushchev's Safari to several regions, revealed many moments of intimacy between the two leaders. One of them, Rosihan Anwar got a story from an "insider" Soekarno had tried to read the lines of Khrushchev.

"I see signs here that you can't be rich," predicted Soekarno. "Yes, that is my goal. I don't want to be rich," Khrushchev said with a laugh.

"Regarding the truth of the story, I cannot be held responsible. However, it was interesting to know that Soekarno was apparently an 'expert' in divination by reading the lines on his hand. But, it could also be said that Soekarno was just joking with the old Khrushchev. As the Padang people say: it excites old people," wrote Rosihan Anwar in the book "Petite Histoire" Indonesia's Little History Volume 2 (2009).

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