Thailand, Cambodia continue talks on border dispute in Indonesia

09 Apr, 2011
Source: Xinhua

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Friday that a meeting to discuss the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia continued on Friday and he expected another informal meeting to solve the problem.

The meeting kicked off on Thursday at the Bogor Palace in West Java.

"The process is still ongoing," Marty was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

The meeting is a consultation called "The Thailand-Cambodia Joint Commission on the Demarcation for Land Boundary," he said.

The minister said that he would also have informal meetings with his Thai and Cambodian counterparts to discuss the problem, which he said was a complex one.

"This matter cannot be solved with one meeting," he said. Indonesia is trying to broker a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand at a two-day bilateral meeting in the Indonesian town of Bogor.

The minister said that the main message from the meeting was that a peaceful solution was back on track, as rejected to violence.

The Jakarta globe reported that Indonesia on Thursday praised the progress of the discussions, although plans for sending observers to the conflict zone were yet to be finalized.

Marty said that the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission had so far agreed to focus on a diplomatic solution as opposed to use of force to resolve the border dispute.

"Today's meeting represents yet another important step to underscore that diplomacy is the preferred means to solve problems, " the minister said.

"That's the main message of the meeting."

It was originally conceived as a parallel discussion to the General Border Committee, but that meeting was vetoed by the Thai military over a proposed plan to deploy unarmed Indonesian Armed Forces personnel as observers to both sides of the border in the disputed area.

Marty said despite the apparent setback, he and his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, had followed up on the outcome of the ASEAN Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta in February, during which a regional plan was formulated to send Indonesian observers to ensure a cease-fire agreed to by the two countries was respected.

Source: Xinhua