US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was calling the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand to press for a ceasefire while fighting along the border remained on his third day.
“The connection with Cambodia has been closed, but expect to return the call over the interruption of war and the ceasefire based on what Thailand has to say. I’m trying to simplify a complex situation!” Trump wrote on his social network, adding that the call to the Thai leader is being made momentarily. “
The American also compared the situation to the fighting between. “Many people are being killed in this war, but it reminds me a lot of the conflict between Pakistan and India, which was successfully interrupted,” he said.
Understand the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia
They have maintained a complex relationship of cooperation and rivalry in recent decades.
Countries share an 817 km land border. The demarcation was done by France, which controlled Cambodia as a colony.
The division resulted in an old dispute involving areas where historical sites and temples are, the two countries claim property.
Cambodia had already sought a decision of the UN International Court of Justice on dispute areas, including the place of the most recent confrontation.
But Thailand does not recognize the jurisdiction of the CIJ and claims that some areas along the border have never been fully demarcated, including places from various old temples.
In 2011, Thai and Cambodian troops clashed in an area near the PREAH VIHEAR temple of the eleventh century, UNESCO World Heritage, displacing thousands of people on both sides and killing at least 20.
