‘Going to make a call’: Trump to intervene amid renewed Thailand-Cambodia clashes
Trump's remarks on Thailand and Cambodia come months after he co-signed a truce between two Asian nations in October.
United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (local time) that he has to “make a phone call” on Wednesday over renewed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. He made the remarks while addressing his supporters in Pennsylvania.
The recent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia over their border issues led to evacuations of around half a million people and deaths of at least 11 people including Thai soldiers and Cambodian civilians, reported news agency AFP.
Trump said that he will make a phone call while reiterating his claim that he has stopped eight wars so far during his second term in White House, including the one between Thailand and Cambodia and also India and Pakistan.
“In 10 months, I ended eight wars, including Kosovo-Serbia, Pakistan and India. They were going at it. Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia. Armenia and Azerbaijan. I hate to say this, Cambodia and Thailand started up today. Tomorrow I have to make a phone call...I'm going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia. They're going at it again. But I'll do it. So we're making peace through strength,” Trump said.
He also said, "Who else could say, 'I'm going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries'?"
Even though Trump has repeatedly claimed that he stopped the four-day long military confrontation between India and Pakistan in May this year, India has not confirmed his claims.
Trump's remarks on Thailand and Cambodia come months after in October, he co-signed a truce between two Asian nations.
Also read: Thai-Cambodia clashes force thousands to flee homes, both vow to keep fighting
Thailand-Cambodia clashes
Thailand and Cambodia have been engaged in a border dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, reported news agency AFP. Both the nations claim historic temples which fall in the disputed border areas, which has led to armed conflicts.
The two nations had earlier clashed in July for five days, due to which dozens of people were killed and around 300,000 people were left displaced, following which they reached a truce after Trump intervened.
Thai defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told a news conference have many people have been evacuated and that they want to prevent to a recurrence of the attacks on civilians like in July.
"Civilians have had to evacuate in large numbers due to what we assessed as an imminent threat to their safety. More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters" he said.
As of Tuesday evening, 101,229 people have been evacuated to safe shelters and relatives' homes in five provinces of Cambodia, said the country's defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata.
(With inputs from AFP)
