Cambodia, Thailand to mull over border issue in Malaysia next week

Phnom Penh, Aug 1 (IANS) Cambodia has welcomed Thailand's proposal to hold talks on border issues in Malaysia next week, a Cambodian defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

"I would like to take this opportunity to confirm that Cambodia welcomes Thailand's proposal to hold a meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) in Kuala Lumpur," Cambodian Defence Ministry's Undersecretary of State and spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said at a press briefing.

"We're very confident that this meeting will be constructive and yield fruitful outcomes," she said.

According to Socheata, Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Seiha and Thailand's Deputy Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit will attend the upcoming meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.

The office of the spokesperson of Thailand's Ministry of Defence said Thursday on social media that Deputy Minister of Defence Nattaphon Narkphanit had officially responded to "Cambodia's invitation" for a special GBC meeting.

In his reply, Nattaphon welcomed the opportunity to join the meeting and emphasised a shared commitment to reduce tensions and resolve border security issues in a peaceful and constructive manner.

Earlier on July 24, armed clashes broke out between soldiers of Cambodia and Thailand along the disputed border. The two countries agreed on a ceasefire on July 28, taking effect at the midnight of July 28.

Observation teams were deployed on Wednesday to monitor the implementation of a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand.

Socheata said in a press briefing that Malaysia, the current chair of ASEAN, sent on Tuesday a high-level delegation led by its Chief of Defence Forces, General Datuk Haji Mohd Nizam Bin Haji Jaffar, to Cambodia.

According to the spokesperson, the Malaysian defence forces chief said that two observation teams will be operational, one led by the Malaysian military attache in Cambodia and the other led by the Malaysian military attache in Thailand

--IANS

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