The 2nd Army has postponed indefinitely the planned Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting with Cambodia, citing Phnom Penh’s failure to present a clear plan for the withdrawal of heavy weaponry and for landmine clearance.
The 2nd Army’s operations centre announced the decision late Tuesday and reissued the statement on Wednesday, in Thai and in English.
The statement said discussions with representatives of Cambodia’s 4th Military Region on the relocation of heavy weapons and mine clearance, timelines, locations and monitoring had yet to yield a concrete action plan.
There had been two rounds of meetings and four rounds of document exchanges in the past week. However, Cambodia had still not submitted a clear proposal regarding troop adjustments or designated demining zones, in accordance with the General Border Committee (GBC) agreement.
The earlier GBC agreement called for resolution of the border conflict at RBC level to achieve mutually agreed objectives.
As Cambodia failed to present a substantive plan, the 2nd Army’s RBC had decided to postpone the scheduled bilateral meeting, to maintain the credibility of the agreements and avoid potential distortion of facts, the statement said.
The meeting would be postponed indefinitely until Cambodia came up with a concrete proposal to reduce border tensions.
‘The 2nd Army Area will continue to act within the framework of international cooperation to maintain peace, security and protection of national sovereignty to the fullest extent,” the statement said.
The RBC meeting between Thailand’s 2nd Army Area and Cambodia’s 4th Military Region was originally scheduled for Oct 15-17 at Chong Chom permanent border checkpoint in Kap Choeng district of Surin, with Cambodia the host.