Roving Periscope: After 35 deaths and Trump’s threats, Cambodia, Thailand agree to ceasefire
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After 35 deaths in five days of armed conflict over a Shiva Temple Complex on their bilateral borders, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to ceasefire to end their ongoing border clashes, the media reported on Monday.
US President Donald Trump had also threatened the two countries with trade sanctions. It may also have promoted them to come to the negotiating table.
Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim said the two neighbours agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire in an urgent effort to resolve deadly border clashes.
Both Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a ceasefire effective midnight (1200 GMT) of July 28, he added.
Thailand’s Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet met on Monday for the ceasefire talks at Anwar’s official residence in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya.
“We have seen very positive development and results that would augur well for Cambodia and Thailand,” said Anwar, flanked by Phumtam and Hun Manet.
The talks between the two warring Southeast Asian countries hosted by Anwar were aimed at halting fighting that has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 270,000 people from both sides of the Thailand-Cambodia border.
Anwar said US President Donald Trump as well as the Chinese leadership were in close contact with the leaders of the warring countries as well as Malaysia “to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
A meeting between the military commanders of both nations will follow on Tuesday, he added.
“This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Anwar said.
Hun Manet said he had “a very good meeting and very good result that we hope to stop immediately the fighting that have caused many lives lost”.
He also praised Trump’s “decisive” role in paving the way for the talks and the ceasefire, adding that he is hoping that the agreement will lead to the “rebuilding of trust and confidence” between the two neighbours.
Phumtam, who had earlier expressed doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of the negotiations in Malaysia, said Thailand had agreed to the ceasefire that would “be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides.”
Earlier on Monday, clashes continued shortly before talks opened in Malaysia.
Thai army spokesperson Colonel Richa Suksuwanon told reporters on Monday that fighting erupted along the border, as gunfire could be heard at dawn in Samrong in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
On Sunday, Thailand said one person was killed and another injured after Cambodia fired a rocket in Sisaket province.
Thailand’s military also reported that Cambodian snipers were camping in one of the contested temples, and accused Phnom Penh of surging troops along the border and hammering Thai territory with rockets.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence spokeswoman Maly Socheata on Monday accused Thailand of deploying “a lot of troops” and firing “heavy weapons” into the Cambodian territory.
Socheata claimed that before dawn on Monday, the Thai military targeted areas near the ancient Ta Muen Thom and the Ta Kwai temples, which Cambodia claims are its territory but are being disputed by Thailand.
She also accused the Thai military of firing smoke bombs from aircraft over Cambodian territory and heavy weapons at its soldiers, adding that Cambodian troops “were able to successfully repel the attacks”.
