Thailand and Cambodia opened peace talks on Monday in Malaysia, seeking a “immediate’ ceasefire in the deadly border conflict that escalated last week.
Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet began their talks in the administrative capital Putrajaya around 3:15pm local time (0715 GMT).
Here’s all you need to know about Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire talks:
1. Leaders of Thailand and Cambodia met at the residence of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, serving chair of the ASEAN bloc of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members.
Anwar Ibrahim had proposed ceasefire talks soon after the border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations.
2. The Malaysian PM had earlier said he would focus on an “immediate ceasefire.” Late Sunday, he said both sides would present their conditions for peace, but “what is important is immediate ceasefire.”
“I hope this can work,” Anwar was quoted as saying by Malaysian national news agency Bernama. “Although it’s not as bad as many other countries, we have to put a stop (to the violence), he added.
3. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has warned that his administration may not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continue.
After separate calls with Phumtham and Hun Manet on Saturday, Trump had threatened that Washington would not do a trade deal with either as long as the fighting continued.
According to Bloomberg, Trump had said before the discussions that the Thai and Cambodian leaders had agreed to “quickly work out a ceasefire.”
Washington’s top diplomat Marco Rubio said State Department officials were on the ground in Malaysia to assist the “peace efforts” while Cambodia said a delegation from its close ally China would also attend.
4. China said on Monday it welcomed efforts to end fighting between Cambodia and Thailand, as talks aimed at seeking a ceasefire between the Southeast Asian nations got under way in Malaysia.
“We hope that both sides will start from the shared interests of their peoples, uphold the spirit of valuing peace and promoting good neighbourliness, remain calm and exercise restraint, cease fire and end the conflict as soon as possible,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.
5. Ahead of the negotiations in Malaysia, Thailand’s leader said there were doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity.
“We are not confident in Cambodia, their actions so far have reflected insincerity in solving the problem,” acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai was quoted by Reuters as saying ahead of his departure for Malaysia.
He said, “Cambodia has violated international law, but everybody wants to see peace. Nobody wants to see violence that affects civilians.”
6. Meanwhile, Cambodia has strongly denied Thai accusations that it fired at civilian targets, and instead said that Thailand has put innocent lives at risk. It has called for the international community to condemn Thailand’s aggression against it.
Cambodia’s defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Monday was “the fifth day that Thailand has invaded Cambodia’s territory with heavy weapons and with the deployment of a lot of troops”.
Thailand-Cambodia conflict
Monday’s talks mark the first formal dialogue since fresh clashes erupted on July 24, with at least 35 people killed and more than 150,000 civilians displaced on both sides of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have intensified since the killing in late May of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish.
Both Thailand and Cambodia accuse the other of starting the fighting last week and then escalating the clashes with heavy artillery bombardment at multiple locations along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, the deadliest conflict in more than a decade between the Southeast Asian neighbours.
Amid speculations over the ceasefire talks, troops from both sides reported ongoing fighting Monday along border areas. Gunfire could be heard as dawn broke in Samrong in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, Associated Press reporters covering the conflict said.