Kuala Lumpur – Southeast Asian foreign ministers met Monday in Malaysia for crisis talks aimed at halting deadly border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, which pressed on despite regional and international diplomacy.
Renewed fighting this month has killed at least 22 people in Thailand and 19 in Cambodia, and displaced more than 900,000 on both sides, officials said.
Malaysia, which chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), expressed hope the talks in Kuala Lumpur would help achieve a lasting ceasefire between the two countries, both bloc members.
Speaking at the start of Monday’s meeting, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan urged the feuding neighbours and other ASEAN representatives to “give this matter our most urgent attention.”
“We must consider the wider ramifications of the continued escalation of the situation for the people we serve,” Mohamad said.
Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said ASEAN’s duty “is to present the facts, but more importantly, to press upon them (Thailand and Cambodia) that it is imperative for them to secure peace.”
Thailand’s National Security Council secretary-general Chatchai Bangchuad on Monday acknowledged international efforts at the ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, but insisted “the process should be bilateral between Thailand and Cambodia”.
Meanwhile Phnom Penh’s defence ministry said the fighting continued early Monday with Thailand firing artillery shells into Cambodian territory, wounding one civilian.
The violence shattered a fragile truce reached after five days of clashes in July, mediated by the US, China and Malaysia.
In October, US President Donald Trump backed a follow-on declaration touting trade deals after they agreed to prolong the truce.
Each side has blamed the other for instigating the clashes, claiming self-defence and trading accusations of attacks on civilians.
On Sunday, both Cambodia and Thailand said Monday’s gathering could help de-escalate tensions.
Both governments have confirmed they would send their top diplomats to the meeting.
‘Peaceful means’
“Cambodia will reaffirm its firm position of resolving differences and disputes through all peaceful means, dialogue and diplomacy,” Phnom Penh added.
Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Maratee reiterated Bangkok’s conditions for negotiations, including a demand that Cambodia announce a truce first and cooperate in de-mining efforts at the border.
Those conditions, the spokeswoman told reporters, “will guide our interaction in the discussions tomorrow in Kuala Lumpur”.
The Thai government gave no guarantee that the meeting would produce a truce, saying a “ceasefire can only be achieved when it is based primarily on the Thai military’s assessment of the situation on the ground”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week Washington hoped for a new ceasefire by early this week.
Trump, who helped broker an earlier truce, claimed this month that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to halt the fighting.
But Bangkok denied any such deal, with clashes continuing for two weeks and spreading to nearly all border provinces on both sides of the frontier.
The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.
