On 9 August, the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the Japanese authorities flew future president Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and BPUPK chairman Radjiman Wediodiningrat to Da Lat, French Indochina for a meeting with General Hisaichi Terauchi, the commander of the Southern Area. He promised Indonesian independence would be granted on 24 August, and appointed Sukarno chairman of the PPKI. After delaying discussion of the extent of independent Indonesia when setting up the BPUPK, the Japanese finally clearly stated it would include the whole of the former Dutch East Indies. The three men flew back to Indonesia, arriving on 14 August. The Indonesian underground rejected any independence gifted by the Japanese, preferring to win it through force of arms. However, on 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese surrender, Sukarno declared independence.