PM Mahathir Mohamad To Yogyakarta Increases The Warm Relations Of Indonesia-Malaysia In Today's History, June 13, 1988

President Suharto and Mahathir Mohamad in Bina Graha, Jakarta, when he was still Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (1976-1981) in 1978. (Perpusnas)

JAKARTA History today, 35 years ago, June 13, 1988, the Prime Minister (PM) of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, visited his country to Indonesia. He was warmly welcomed by President Suharto in Yogyakarta.

The arrival then became a warm representation of the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia. Previously, relations between Indonesia and Malaysia had heated up in the Old Order era. Bung Karno perpetuated the confrontation. He saw Malaysia like a bulge' England state.

Malaysia may be one of Indonesia's closest neighbor countries. However, that closeness does not mean that you have to have an intimate relationship. Sometimes relations between neighboring countries are often hot. That's what happened when Indonesia during the Bung Karno and the Old Order era.

Bung Karno views Malaysia as like an Inggirs-style puppet country. Bung Karno is worried that the presence of Malaysia will be used by Britain to become a western military base in Southeast Asia.

Bung Karno was furious. He refused to admit Malaysia's existence. Soekarno then launched a confrontation against Malaysia which is remembered as Ganyang Malaysia's narrative. However, everything changed when Suharto and the New Order took power.

Suharto has the opposite attitude. Indonesian politics, which initially oriented towards the Soviet Union, immediately changed course. Suharto then began to maintain good relations with the west. Even that attitude made Indonesia begin to maintain good relations with neighboring countries.

Mainly with Malaysia. This closeness paid off. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born. Since then, the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia has become intimate.

However, Indonesia's foreign political arrangement is considered more successful. First, after successfully bringing Indonesia into one of the orbits of Western block countries, President Suharto then reversed the image of Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia in the past to a conducive regional political arrangement for economic development efforts through the establishment of ASEAN.

The formation of ASEAN is believed to be the turning point of confrontation with the politics of regional cooperation between nations in Southeast Asia. ASEAN later became the first main pillar of funding Indonesia's external environmental aspects in the formulation of foreign politics under President Suharto," explained Agus R. Rahman in the LIPI Political Research Journal entitled Foreign Politics Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2005).

The closeness between Indonesia and Malaysia is shown everywhere. This closeness makes the relationship between Suharto and the Malaysian PM, Mahathir Mohamad like a friend. The two often support each other. Visit each other too.

All of them are proven by the various collaborations that have been perpetuated. On Mahathir Mohamad's state visit to Indonesia on June 13, 1988, for example. His arrival had a special mission. Instead of just maintaining friendship, Mahathir also brought an agenda to improve the cooperation relationship between the two countries.

Suharto welcomed this. Moreover, the cooperation that will be perpetuated is in the field of education and tourism. That is why Suharto chose Yogyakarta as the location of the meeting. A city that is one of the centers of education and tourism in Indonesia.

The Nusantara side also supports the arrival of Mahathir Mohamad. The media crew did not want to be left behind. They then reported all kinds of Mahathir Mohamad's agenda with Suharto in Yogyakarta, including visiting famous Indonesian artists. Therefore, the two leaders became a warm representation of Indonesia-Malaysia relations. Indonesia is even considered as Malaysia's 'old brother'.

Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad arrived in Indonesia for a working visit. He held talks with President Suharto in Yogyakarta. The meeting was intended to increase cooperation, especially in the fields of education and tourism," wrote the Media Karya Magazine report entitled Summary of the 1988 (1988) National Event.