Thai-Cambodian Clashes: Trump Announces Fresh Ceasefire; India Notes Damage at Temple Complex

New Delhi: Following days of renewed fighting between their troops that has killed at least 20 people and displaced hundreds of thousands others, Thailand's prime minister and Cambodia's president during a phone call with Donald Trump on Friday (December 12) “agreed to cease all shooting”, the US president announced.

“I had a very good conversation this morning with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Manet,” and the two “have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening”, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday night Indian time.

They also agreed to revert to the ceasefire that he and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim mediated after a previous round of clashes in July, said Trump, adding to thank Ibrahim for his “assistance” in securing Friday's breakthrough.

There was no official announcement from Thailand or Cambodia as of when this story was written.

Meanwhile, hours before Trump's announcement, India took note of reports that conservation facilities at the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple complex were damaged by the fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border, calling any such damage “unfortunate” and a “matter of concern”.

Dedicated to Shiva, the temple “is a shared cultural heritage of humanity” and “India has been closely involved in its preservation”, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday afternoon.

“We sincerely hope that all measures will be taken to fully safeguard the site and related conservation facilities,” Jaiswal said, adding to call on both sides to “return to the path of dialogue and peace”.

India signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cambodian government on Preah Vihear's conservation in August 2018 during then-external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Phnom Penh.

As part of the resulting ten-year-long conservation project costing $5.5 million, a team of the Archaeological Survey of India was deputed to the temple complex in 2022 to begin work.

Located at the edge of a plateau on the Cambodian side of the country's disputed border with Thailand, the temple complex was caught in the crossfire during this week's fighting.

Cambodia has accused the Thai military of attacking the temple, with Bangkok alleging that Cambodian soldiers “used the Preah Vihear temple itself as a military base” and arguing that the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict “clearly provides exceptions if cultural property is used for military purposes”.

BBC Verify had reported on Wednesday that it confirmed a strike on a crane inside the temple complex.

UNESCO, which declared Preah Vihear a World Heritage Site in 2008, had expressed concern earlier this week.

Reuters reports that upwards of 20 people were killed and over 260 hurt in this week's fighting, for which both sides have blamed each other.

Hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been displaced.

Thailand and Cambodia had formally signed a peace deal in October on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, but it was called off after Bangkok accused Cambodian personnel of laying fresh landmines in the region.

This week, Thailand carried out air strikes on Cambodian territory, which it claims was in response to an on-ground attack. Phnom Penh initially said it did not retaliate but then vowed to fight back.

With inputs from DW.

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