US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, said that he will soon make a call to end renewed hostilities on the Thai-Cambodia border, while citing his record at peace-making over the last ten months in which he included ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May as one of his major achievements.
Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump highlighted what he described as his record of global peacemaking, declaring that “in ten months I ended eight wars”, before citing conflicts between Kosovo and Serbia, Pakistan and India, and Israel and Iran.
India and Pakistan confronted each other militarily with artillery missiles, aircraft and drones after India made retaliatory strikes following a terror strike in Kashmir from across the border.
Despite the Indian government’s repeated denials of any third-party involvement in the eventual de-escalation on May 10, Trump again implied he played a behind-the-scenes role.
Turning to the current crisis in Southeast Asia, Trump acknowledged that clashes have once again broken out in the disputed Thai-Cambodian border region and suggested he would intervene.
“I hate to say this one, named Cambodia-Thailand, and it started up today, and tomorrow I’ll have to make a phone call,” he told the crowd. “Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia’? They’re going at it again.”
The latest clashes between Thailand and Cambodia escalated after a landmine explosion in November injured four Thai soldiers, reigniting tensions along the disputed border.
Both countries have ignored calls from the United States to halt hostilities and comply with the Trump-backed peace agreement signed in Malaysia in October. At the time, President Trump had warned that Washington would withhold future trade deals from either nation if they refused to endorse or implement the accord.
Following the November blast, Thailand suspended all work related to the peace agreement and accused Cambodia of breaching the joint declaration by allegedly laying new landmines along the frontier, an accusation Phnom Penh has strongly denied.
Moreover, Bangkok has halted the tentative release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war captured during the July clashes, further deepening the diplomatic standoff.
As per CNN reports, about 400,000 people living along the border dividing the two Southeast Asian nations have been evacuated amid the latest flare-up.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow hinted that the situation could worsen, telling CNN that military action would continue “until we feel that sovereignty and territorial integrity are not challenged.”
The fighting, stemming from decades-old competing territorial claims along their 500-mile (800-kilometre) land border, is the most intense since a deadly five-day conflict in July.
The Thai Air Force said Cambodia had been mobilising heavy weapons and repositioning combat units.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense denied the allegations, saying Thai forces had “engaged in numerous provocative actions for many days,” without elaborating.
The Thai Navy accused Cambodian troops of firing heavy weapons, including BM-21 rockets, into civilian areas, and alleged that Cambodia had deployed special operations units and snipers to the border, dug trenches to fortify positions, and encroached into Thai territory in the coastal Trat province—”a direct and serious threat to Thailand’s sovereignty.”
Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Monday said he was ready to take necessary measures to ensure the country’s security and sovereignty.
On the contrary, the Cambodian Defense Ministry urged the international community to condemn Thailand’s violation of the peace agreement.
