Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to "exert utmost efforts" to find a peaceful solution to their border conflict at a disputed temple, Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said Sunday.
The armed stand-off has overshadowed Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers' annual talks, which opened in Singapore Sunday with calls for the neighbours to find a peaceful solution.
"Both sides affirmed that they would abide by their Asean and international obligations and exert their utmost efforts to find a peaceful solution to the issue," Yeo said in a statement. More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda leading to the ruins of an 11th-century temple, where nearby land is claimed by both sides.
The armed stand-off began after three Thai protesters were arrested on Tuesday for crossing a fence to reach the ancient ruins, which have been a source of tension between the neighbours for decades.
"We urged both sides to exercise utmost restraint and resolve this issue amicably in the spirit of Asean solidarity and good neighbourliness," Yeo said.
Singapore holds the chair of the 10-nation Asean group but is to hand over to Thailand this week. Yeo said the ministers were briefed by both Cambodia and Thailand on the situation in the area around the temple, and noted the findings "with concern". "We hope the General Border Commission between Thailand and Cambodia, which will be meeting tomorrow, and other bilateral talks, will find a way to defuse the tension," Yeo said, referring to a defence officials' meeting Monday.
The ministers offered assistance if Cambodia and Thailand "felt the need for further support to find an early resolution to the issue," he added.
Asean's secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said earlier Sunday that the ministers were keen to see the matter resolved as soon as possible. "Any tension, any misunderstanding between and among member states is always an issue of concern for Asean," said Surin, himself a former Thai foreign minister.
Thai government representatives here said they could not discuss whether the countries' ministers would hold bilateral talks in Singapore.