- Excellency Mr. Secretary-General of the UN,
- Excellency Mr. President of the UN General Assembly,
- Excellencies ASEAN Foreign Ministers,
- Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. On
behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I wish to express my
sincere gratitude to H.E. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, for his
constructive role in the past to help resolve the Cambodian-Thai border
issue. We truly appreciate his great efforts on this issue.
2. On
this occasion, Cambodia certainly could not forget to also express our
deep thanks to Indonesia, in particular Foreign Minister Marty
Natalegawa, for its tireless efforts to help Cambodia and Thailand to
settle their problems peacefully. Once again, Excellency Minister Marty,
please accept our sincere appreciation.
3. Now, please allow me to inform the meeting on the current Cambodian-Thai situation, as follows:
4. After
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had issued the order in July
of this year to establish the Provisional Demilitarized Zone (PMZ),
peace has returned to the border. On the grounds, no more shootings
occurred. To implement the ICJ’s order, Cambodia was and is ready to
withdraw its troops at any time from the PMZ.
5. The
General Border Committee (GBC), jointly led by the defense ministers
of the two countries, is expected to meet soon in order to determine
the date for troops withdrawal from the PMZ. Certainly, the withdrawal
of troops from the PMZ, as required by ICJ, must have the presence of
the Indonesian observers on the grounds for monitoring and
verification. This is very important as troops withdrawal must be done
simultaneously and transparently. We know that the Indonesian
Observation Team (IOT) was prepared for some time already to be
deployed on the grounds.
6. While
pending the withdrawal of troops from the PMZ, Cambodia has already
pulled out its troops from the areas around the PMZ in order to create a
conducive environment for peaceful settlement of the Cambodian-Thai
border problem.
7. On
the other hand, the Joint Commission on the Demarcation of Land
Boundary (JBC) will also be convened in the future in order to demarcate
the other parts of the border between the two countries.8. I
also wish to take this opportunity to inform the meeting that during
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s recent official visit to
Cambodia we have agreed to revitalize all sectors of cooperation between
the two sides for mutual interests.
9. Now,
the only remaining issue is the interpretation of the 1962 ruling by
ICJ, which Cambodia has requested to settle peacefully Thailand’s claim
over 4.6 square kilometers in the vicinity of the Cambodian Temple of
PREAH VIHEAR. Today, the ICJ is waiting for Thailand’s comments on the
request by Cambodia.
10. Finally,
Cambodia believes that with the new government in Thailand, bilateral
challenges, including border problems between the two countries, would
be resolved peacefully and amicably for the interests of both peoples
in the spirit of good neighborliness.
Thank you.