Malaysia to coordinate efforts to ease Thailand-Cambodia border tensions, says PM Anwar
Malaysia is working to dial down tensions between Thailand and Cambodia and push for a halt to hostilities along their disputed border areas, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in Kuala Lumpur.
- At the request of Thailand and Cambodia, Malaysia has coordinated the postponement of an ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to allow time for the border situation to stabilize.
- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar is in daily virtual contact with both nations, urging them to stop fighting and negotiating to prevent a proposed Thai fuel blockade on Cambodia.
- Malaysia has proposed sending a Malaysian-led ASEAN Observer Team to monitor any ceasefire, which would use satellite imagery and field reports.
Anwar said Bangkok and Phnom Penh had asked for a short delay to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, originally set for Tuesday (December 16), to give the situation time to stabilise.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed the meeting would be rescheduled for Monday (December 22).
“We are still coordinating and monitoring efforts.
They have asked for a slight postponement of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled on Tuesday,” Anwar told reporters on Monday (December 15), adding that Malaysia was continuing to urge both sides to stop the fighting.
He said he remained in touch with the parties virtually on a daily basis.
Thailand’s military said on Sunday, December 14, it was weighing restrictions on fuel exports to Cambodia as clashes spread into coastal areas of a contested zone.
The announcement came two days after US President Donald Trump said both sides had agreed to a new ceasefire.
The neighbours have repeatedly seen fighting this year, following the death of a Cambodian soldier in a skirmish in May, with the renewed conflict forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee on both sides of the border.
Asked about Thailand’s proposed fuel blockade, Anwar said talks were continuing. “We are still negotiating to cool things down. It is very difficult,” he said.
Anwar has previously floated sending an ASEAN Observer Team, led by Malaysia’s Chief of Defence Forces, to monitor developments.
The proposal would also draw on US-provided satellite imagery to help assess whether both sides are observing any ceasefire, with field reports and satellite tracking to be compiled for presentation to the foreign ministers’ meeting.
