Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul plans to meet US President Donald Trump today in Malaysia and sign a peace declaration with Cambodia overseen by the US leader, proceeding with his overseas travel amid funeral arrangements for the Thai queen mother.
The death yesterday of Thai Queen Mother Sirikit, wife of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had thrown into doubt the prime minister’s attendance at the ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Trump had been pushing Thailand and Cambodia to sign a peace accord during his Asia trip.
Photo: AP
While in Malaysia, Anutin would hold a bilateral meeting with Trump “to strengthen cooperation on economic, security and sustainable development issues in the region,” the Thai government said yesterday.
Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said that Thailand and Cambodia would sign a “declaration,” rather than a “peace deal,” as it states they are “committed to review their relations and work toward the resumption of normalization and diplomatic relations.”
The signing ceremony is expected to be a key feature of Trump’s attendance at the ASEAN summit. He had intervened to help secure a fragile ceasefire between the two Southeast Asian countries after border tensions erupted into military clashes in July.
Trump threatened at the time to block trade deals with the countries unless they stopped fighting.
Anutin told reporters earlier yesterday that the signing would be moved to earlier in the day so he can fly back to Bangkok to attend a ceremony for the late Queen Mother in the afternoon.
Malaysia also said a planned bilateral meeting would be postponed.
Trump said en route to Malaysia that he was traveling to the country, because of the role Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim played in helping to halt the fighting. The Malaysian leader would also oversee the event.
“One of the reasons I’m going to Malaysia is they were very, very much involved in the whole thing,” Trump said. “Thailand and all. I told the leader of Malaysia, who’s a very good man, I said, ‘I think I owe you a trip.’”
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