Monday, January 26, 2009

Thai, Cambodian foreign ministers meet to strengthen bilateral ties

PHNOM PENH, Jan 26 (TNA) - Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong on Monday with the intention to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

According to a Thai foreign ministry statement, the main purpose of the Mr. Kasit's visit is to introduce himself on the basis of customary practice to become acquainted with Cambodia's top leaders after assuming the foreign minister's portfolio.

During the two-day visit Sunday and Monday, his first official visit as foreign minister, Mr. Kasit is having a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Hor Namhong, who is also deputy prime minister.

The Thai minister will have an audience with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, and pay courtesy calls on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as Chea Sim, President of the Senate and Heng Samrin, President of the National Assembly.

Mr. Kasit will take the opportunity to thank Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for accepting the invitation to attend the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) summit to be held at Thailand's resort of Hua Hin, southwest of Bangkok, February 27-March 1.

The two ministers' discussion will include a proposal to open a new permanent border crossing checkpoint at Poi Pet opposite Thailand's Sa Kaew province, and Thailand is asking Cambodia to complete the survey and border demarcation before opening the new checkpoint.

The Thai foreign minister will reportedly seek royal pardons for two religious teachers who were jailed for life in Cambodia on terrorist charges.

The two Thai Muslim teachers were sentenced in December 2003 on charges of helping the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot a terrorist attack in Cambodia.

Thailand and Cambodia would also hold talks on cooperation on culture and tourism.

As for the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia at Preah Vihear temple, Mr. Kasit said he would not raise this issue during the talks as he would let the responsible committees to carry out their tasks and to show the sincerity of Thailand in solving the border problems via peaceful mean.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

any bilateral talk should have nothing to do with cambodia's preah vihear temple. otherwise, it is not just for cambodia, and khmer people of cambodia can never accept that for a number of reasons.