The 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) is due to kick off their annual meeting in Singapore with a dinner from 7:00 pm before formal talks start on Monday.
High on the official agenda is a new charter which would create an EU-style economic block committed to democracy and human rights by 2015, and efforts to get aid to some two million survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.
But even before the ministers had sat down to dinner, the atmosphere had been soured by an armed standoff between Thai and Cambodian troops over territory surrounding an ancient temple.
Restraint urged
'We encourage both sides to exercise restraint and also to resolve the issue peacefully', said Singaporean foreign ministry official Andrew Tan, who is the spokesman for the Asean Ministerial Meeting.
'I think that is the way to go because the way Asean has survived all these years is not to allow bilateral disputes to actually affect the grouping's solidarity', he said.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the border dispute would be raised when the ministers meet at an informal dinner here later Sunday ahead of the start of formal talks on Monday.
'I am sure they will express the wish and ncouragement that they (Thailand and Cambodia) should resolve any tension and any misunderstanding as soon as possible', he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda also called for 'utmost restraint'.
'Certainly it is our collective wish that the direct parties concerned, Thailand and Cambodia, exercise utmost restraint and settle the problem between themselves', he said.
More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda leading to the ruins of a 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, where nearby land is claimed by both sides.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Phnom Penh had sent letters to the UN Security Council and General Assembly informing them of the situation, a move that sparked an angry response in Bangkok on Sunday.
'I will say no more - the complaint has reached the UN, the Thai foreign ministry will take care of the matter', Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said.
'The situation at no-man's land needs negotiation'. Defence officials from both countries plan to meet on the border on Monday to try to defuse the crisis.
But Thai government representatives here said they could not discuss whether the countries' ministers would hold talks in Singapore, while the Cambodian team was not available to comment.
'Nobody wants to have this disturbing the region', said Mr Carl Thayer from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University.
'I think there will be pressure on Cambodia or Thailand... to set up a meeting'.
Officials hope Asean charter can be ratified by all members
Thailand is one of three member states along with Indonesia and the Philippines which has not ratified the Asean charter, which was agreed in November and sets obligations on member states for the first time.
It binds members to commitments on democracy, good governance, the rule of law and human rights, and envisages the creation of a massive free trade bloc of more than 500 million people.
Officials are hoping it can be ratified by all members at a summit later this year despite doubts that the region's disparate regimes - including communist states and the Myanmar junta - can achieve such ambitious goals.
The Philippines has said it will not ratify the charter unless Myanmar releases democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years.
Asean officials have recommended the foreign ministers release a statement demanding Myanmar release all political prisoners, a move that would signal a shift from from the bloc's stance of 'positive engagement' with the junta.
But a senior official said the junta was urging ministers to drop all political issues from a joint communique and focus solely on providing more aid for cyclone victims.
'Myanmar wants to talk about the rehabilitation efforts, not about politics', he said.
Myanmar's generals earned widespread contempt by refusing to allow foreign relief workers into the country in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May, a disaster that left 138,000 people dead or missing.
Asean won praise for eventually bridging the gap between the junta and the outside world by taking the lead on a joint aid mission with the military authorities and the United Nations.
The mission is expected to release its full report on the humanitarian situation in Myanmar's devastated southern delta region here on Monday. -- AFP
1 comment:
It is really a smart move that Cambodia and its administration decided on diplomatic channel and sent letter to UN for assistant to resolve the issue rather to have a head on collision with Thai.
Thailand would not so impress with such a move by Cambodia as they are seen as toruble makers in the eye of the UN and ASEAN.
Strongly beleive that ASEAN members nation will raise talk with Thailand.
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