Vivian Balakrishnan to attend special ASEAN meeting in KL on Thai-Cambodian border conflict
Singapore remains deeply concerned with the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday (Dec 22).
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SINGAPORE: Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan will be attending a special Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday (Dec 22) in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.
The meeting, which will be chaired by ASEAN Chair Malaysia, is part of the bloc's efforts to promote peace and stability in the region, said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday.
"Singapore remains deeply concerned with the situation along the Thai-Cambodia border," said MFA.
"We welcome the efforts of the ASEAN Chair, external partners, as well as any bilateral mechanisms that both Cambodia and Thailand agree upon, to de-escalate the conflict in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity and good neighbourliness," the ministry added.
Dr Balakrishnan will be accompanied by MFA officials.
Chaired by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Monday's special meeting is a follow-up to the agreement made by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his counterparts from Thailand and Cambodia on Dec 11.
Malaysia currently holds the chair of ASEAN, a role that the Philippines will assume in January.
Singapore earlier this month called on Thailand and Cambodia to exercise restraint and to resolve their differences through dialogue.
The renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this month has killed at least 22 people in Thailand and 19 in Cambodia, according to officials.
Phnom Penh said on Sunday more than half a million Cambodians were displaced from their homes in recent weeks, following deadly border clashes with Thailand.
Thailand and Cambodia have long disputed sovereignty over several areas along their land border.
Tensions escalated in July after a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief exchange of gunfire, leading to five days of fighting. United States President Donald Trump brokered the ceasefire agreement, which halted the fighting.
In October, Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration, touting new trade deals with Thailand and Cambodia after they agreed to prolong their ceasefire.
But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month as the two sides then traded accusations of fresh clashes.
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