Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia meet in Kuala Lumpur on Monday to stop deadly fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border. The clashes have killed at least 41 people and displaced nearly one million since early December.
Malaysia, as Asean chair, leads efforts to revive a July truce brokered with U.S. President Donald Trump. The talks are the first since hostilities resumed on December 8, with each side blaming the other.
The dispute centres on the Preah Vihear temple, awarded to Cambodia in 1962 but contested by Thailand due to French colonial borders drawn over a century ago (dates back more than a century).
Recent artillery exchanges span the 800km frontier, with Thailand launching airstrikes.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who co-signed the ceasefire, is “cautiously optimistic.”
“Our duty is to present the facts, but more importantly, to press upon them that it is imperative for them to secure peace,” he said last week.
Cambodia aims for “peace, stability and good neighbourly relations” through talks. Thailand demands a Cambodian ceasefire first, then a “genuine and sustained” halt.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hopes for a deal by Monday or Tuesday after talks with Thailand. China’s envoy Deng Xijun visited Phnom Penh, with Beijing pledging to “continue to play a constructive role in facilitating dialogue between Cambodia and Thailand.”