TOKYO, Feb. 18 (Kyodo)—Visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Friday that Cambodia and Thailand must jointly reiterate their commitment not to use force amid ongoing border skirmishes.
Speaking at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club, Natalegawa said Thailand and Cambodia must “reinforce or reiterate the commitments that the two sides have repeatedly made that they will not wish to resort to the use of force in solving the problem between them.”
“Given the nature of the two countries today, I feel that this commitment must be made together, rather than simply made separately,” he said.
The remarks came ahead of a meeting in Jakarta next Tuesday that will bring together the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss the dispute between the two countries. Indonesia currently holds the rotating chair of ASEAN.
Natalegawa visited Phnom Penh and Bangkok earlier this month in a bid to mediate in the conflict. The U.N. Security Council expressed “grave concern” Monday over the border skirmishes and called on both sides to establish a “permanent” cease-fire.
The Indonesian foreign minister added that work must be done on “how to compromise the two extreme ideas” to resolve the issue, one being to deploy a multilateral framework involving a third party and the other being for bilateral negotiations.
“Gone are the days when ASEAN swept things under the carpet, not addressing issues head-on. This time around we wish to confront issues head-on to bring peace and harmony whenever there are difficulties between ASEAN states as we are doing between Cambodia and Thailand,” he said.
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