In December 1949, Kawilarang was appointed as Territorial Commander of North Sumatra (or "Komando Teritorium/Sumatra Utara", now Kodam I/Bukit Barisan) in anticipation of the Dutch recognition of Indonesian sovereignty after the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference. During his career, Kawilarang was also territorial commander of two other important military districts: Military Territory VII / East Indonesia (or "Tentara dan Teritorium (TT) VII/Indonesia Timur", now Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin) in April 1950 and Military Territory III / West Java (or "Tentara dan Teritorium (TT) III/Jawa Barat", now Kodam III/Siliwangi) in November 1951.