Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end their days-long border clashes, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday. The development came after Malaysia offered to mediate in the Thailand-Cambodia conflict, the deadliest in a decade.
The Southeast Asian neighbours have accused each other of starting the fighting last week, before escalating it with heavy artillery bombardment and Thai air strikes along their 817-km land border. Tensions between both countries have intensified since the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish in late May.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai attended the mediation talks in Malaysia’s Putrajaya, along with the Chinese and US ambassadors to Malaysia, at Ibrahim’s residence.
“The purpose of this meeting is to achieve an immediate ‘ceasefire’, initiated by US President Donald Trump and agreed to by the Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Thailand,” Manet wrote on X.
On July 26, Trump said both Thailand and Cambodia agreed to hold ceasefire talks and that both nations wanted to settle their differences. The US President spoke to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia over the weekend and told them that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended the fighting.
Ibrahim proposed that Malaysia could hold ceasefire talks with Cambodia and Thailand after their border dispute escalated into a deadly conflict on July 24, and China and the US also offered to assist in negotiations.
Even after the peace talks were announced by Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia reported clashes in border areas on Monday.
WHY ARE THAILAND AND CAMBODIA FIGHTING?
The conflict, which raged for five days, has resulted in the deaths of over 30 people, including 13 civilians in Thailand and eight in Cambodia. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from border areas in the two countries, authorities said.
Cambodia has strongly denied Thai accusations of having fired at civilian targets, saying instead that Thailand put innocent lives at risk. It has called for the international community to condemn Thailand’s aggression against it.
Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over undemarcated points along their 817-km land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th-century Preah Vihear central to the disputes.
Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but tensions escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and skirmishes over several years caused at least a dozen deaths.
In June, Cambodia said it had asked the world court to resolve its disputes with Thailand, which says it has never recognised the court’s jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach.
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(with inputs from Reuters)
