KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — Malaysia will soon dispatch a team to Thailand to discuss the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Interim Observation Team (IOT), which has been tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia.
Malaysian Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar said the TOR, which had been discussed and agreed upon with Cambodia, would also be presented to the Thai authorities to ensure both sides were aligned on the mechanism for monitoring peace along the border.
“The General Border Committee (GBC) meeting between Thailand and Cambodia is still ongoing to further discuss the TOR.
“I will dispatch a team to Thailand to discuss the TOR with their Chief of Defence Force, alongside Cambodia’s. This will be the way forward in implementing the IOT,” he told reporters in a joint press conference with the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, General Romeo Brawner Jr., after the 22nd Asean Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (ACDFM) here today.
Nizam said Asean’s involvement aimed to uphold the ceasefire and rebuild trust between the two neighbours.
He noted that IOT personnel from Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia had already been deployed to Cambodia, while Brunei and Singapore will follow soon.
“This team will empower them to ensure the ceasefire agreement is strictly observed,” he said, describing the move as a historic first for Asean in responding collectively to a regional security crisis.
Although the conflict was fundamentally a bilateral issue, Nizam said Asean was stepping in as a ‘trusted partner’ to facilitate peace.
“When we talk about Asean centrality, we have been emphasising it since the existence of Asean in 1967. This is the time that we want to tell the world we can work as one,” he said.
As Asean Chair this year, Malaysia has been leading the ceasefire mediation process, with strong backing from the United States and China.
Once bound by close ties, Cambodia and Thailand are now locked in an escalating dispute along their 817-kilometre border, an area dotted with centuries-old temple ruins that have become flashpoints of tension overshadowed by the threat of conflict. — Bernama
