Cambodia Calls on Thailand to Respond to Indonesia’s Proposals

via CAAI

Phnom Penh, March 11, 2011 AKP —

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has urged his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to respond as soon as possible to Indonesia’s proposed meetings in late March and the terms of reference (TOR) for Indonesian observers.

The Cambodian premier made the remarks yesterday at an inauguration ceremony in Maung Russei district, Battambang province, following a letter from Indonesian Foreign Minister H.E. Marty Natalegawa, the current Chair of ASEAN, sent to Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers as well as other ASEAN foreign ministers on Mar. 9.

In his letter, the Indonesian foreign minister thanked the two governments for their support to the draft of TOR for Indonesian observers, said Samdech Techo Hun Sen, adding that there were some changes to the conditions of TOR and Indonesia asked Cambodia and Thailand to consider positively and urgently a new TOR.

According to Samdech Techo Hun Sen, some changes to the TOR include the guarantee that the implementation of the TOR will not affect the territory, security or public important interests, and results of negotiations on the border demarcation between Cambodia and Thailand.

Another change involved the reduction of the period of Indonesian observance, from 12 to 9 months, because Indonesia has only 9 months to take over the ASEAN rotating chair, he pointed out.

Cambodia positively responded already to Indonesia on Wednesday, affirmed the Cambodian prime minister.

H.E. Marty Natalegawa further said that in his previous letter, he underlined Indonesia’s readiness to host the meetings of Cambodia-Thai General Border Committee (GBC) and Joint Border Committee on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) on Mar. 24-25. “I received the positive response from Cambodia. I am looking forward to hearing positive response from Thailand,” he said.

“It is almost one month since the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting on Feb. 22, we firmly believe that we all have recognized the urgency of the practical activities,” he wrote.

Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen reiterated that Cambodia does not want the [border] dispute become a big obstacle for the two countries. “We want to avoid war, we would like to have the economic, trade, investment and tourism cooperation,” he stressed. –AKP

Article in Khmer by CHIM Nary

Article in English by SOKMOM Nimul