Talks between Thailand and Cambodia this week have made “meaningful progress”, Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit said, ahead of the potential signing of a broader ceasefire agreement between the two countries on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump is also expected to witness the signing of the ceasefire deal on the sidelines of an Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister said last week.
Thai and Cambodian officials have been meeting all week to thrash out the details of the agreement to ease hostilities, after border tensions between the two countries exploded into a deadly five-day conflict in July.
The five-day war killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced hundreds of thousands on both sides in what was the worst fighting between the two countries in decades. An initial ceasefire brokered in Malaysia with US involvement was signed on July 28.
The two countries have already reached a consensus in four areas, Natthaphon said yesterday at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur after one of the meetings, which also included observers from the United States and Malaysia.
This includes an action plan to withdraw heavy weapons from border areas, joint de-mining operation procedures, and a coordinated plan to tackle cyber scams, including the formation of a joint task force, he said.
Another agreement reached in a separate meeting involves a joint survey of the border region between Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province and Cambodia’s Bantheay Meanchey, the minister said.
The area is where Thai police clashed with Cambodian protesters last month.
Thailand will also build border fences in non-disputed areas, Natthaphon added.
“We want to see clear progress in all the areas that I have mentioned before we consider ceasing hostilities towards each other,” he said. — Reuters
