By Mikhail Flores and Panarat Thepgumpanat
CEBU, Philippines, May 7 (Reuters) – The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia will meet in the Philippines for rare talks following deadly fighting between the neighbours last year, as a ceasefire holds with no formal resolution in sight.
Troops remain deployed on both sides of the long-disputed 817-km (508-mile) border after battles in July and December when skirmishes quickly escalated into air strikes and heavy exchanges of artillery and rockets.
The Philippines, which is hosting meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the island of Cebu, said the talks would be overseen by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on the eve of Friday’s summit of leaders.
“They want an atmosphere for an ASEAN meeting that will go well,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters in the Thai capital of Bangkok.
“That’s why they want us to see each other.”
Anutin did not elaborate on topics to be discussed but vowed to resolutely defend Thailand’s interests.
“I have to stand on principles during discussions,” he said. “Any talks will have to be beneficial, protect Thai sovereignty and the public interest.”
FRAGILE TRUCE
Close to 150 people were killed and at least 300,000 displaced by the two rounds of fighting, which each country accused the other of starting.
The first outbreak was settled in July after five days following an intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, who oversaw the signing of a troop withdrawal pact in October during an ASEAN summit.
But Trump was unsuccessful in efforts to halt a second flare-up, despite saying he had rescued the ceasefire, with clashes raging for 20 days before both sides agreed bilaterally to a truce.
Though fighting has stopped, Cambodia has repeatedly accused Thailand of ceasefire violations and of occupying disputed border territory, accusations Bangkok rejects.
Kung Phoak, Cambodia’s secretary of state for foreign affairs, said on Wednesday the three-way meeting showed ASEAN’s interest in tackling the conflict.
“It shows that the chair is trying to bring us together and to resolve the issue,” he told Reuters.
“We need to renounce the use and threat of force, and the solution has to be based on international law and existing treaties in agreement.”
The meeting comes at a time of increased strain on ties, after Thailand unilaterally terminated on Tuesday an agreement with Cambodia on joint offshore energy exploration, defying calls from its neighbour to stick with the 25-year-old pact.
Cambodia said it had no option but to seek formal resolution of overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores in Cebu, Philippines and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Josh Smith; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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