General Suharto to seize power in Indonesia. Because of this internal conflict, Indonesia lost its desire to continue its hostile policy against Malaysia, and therefore the war ended. On 28 May 1966, a conference held in Bangkok secured an agreement between the Federation of Malaysia and Republic of Indonesia to resolve the conflict. The violence ended in June, and the peace deal was signed on 11 August and officially recognised two days later. With this treaty, Indonesia and Malaysia officially agreed to be two separate national entities that mutually recognised each other's existence and sovereignty. It is worth noting also that despite the fact that their numbers were curtailed and ideology wounded by government repression, proponents of pan-unity with Indonesia persisted in pressuring the UMNO-led government to adopt more conciliatory approaches towards Indonesia. Moreover, the comments also highlighted an increasingly pertinent dimension to the kinship factor that was taking shape in this relationship: the need to reinforce Indo-Malay solidarity and identity in the face of the increasing political weight of their respective domestic Chinese constituencies. Contemporary events After the Indonesia-Malaysia peace deal, Indonesia was occupied with its own domestic problems building its economy while trying to maintain its unity as a diverse and plural nation. As a result, during the reign of Suharto, freedom and democracy were sacrificed in the name of national stability and unity. In 1975, Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony of East Timor that finally achieved independence from Indonesia in 1999. Indonesia suffered various problems ranging from economic crises, separatist movements in Aceh and West Papua (region), to the problem of terrorism. Indonesia is more interested in defining itself as Indonesian by trying to develop national character building, to define themselves as pluralist nation encapsulated in Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity) under Pancasila (politics) as a national ideology with territorial claim only spanning from Sabang in Aceh to Merauke in Papua. As the largest nation in Southeast Asia, Indonesia seems to be satisfied on channelling its regional ambition through assuming leadership role among ASEAN countries. On the other side, Malaysia was struggling on national building and facing problems regarding the national format alternatives; between leftist republic fighters and rightist traditional royalists. The remnants of Kesatuan Melayu Muda — the advocate of unification with Indonesia, which had been fighting for the independence for Malaya, aspired for the formation of Greater Indonesia or Greater Malay, to join