Thailand, Cambodia sign peace deal at ASEAN summit

Trump, who threatened to impose higher tariffs on both nations to halt the fighting, witnessed the signing by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Under the agreement, Thailand will release 18 detained Cambodian soldiers and both sides will gradually remove heavy weapons from the frontier. The 800-kilometre border has long been disputed, but past flare-ups were shorter and less deadly than this year’s clashes, which left dozens killed and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

The signing took place during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit, which also welcomed East Timor as the bloc’s 11th member in its first expansion since the 1990s.

East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao described the country’s accession as “a dream realized,” saying the move gives his nation fresh opportunities to boost its struggling economy while joining a regional community of 680 million people with a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs ASEAN this year, said East Timor’s inclusion strengthens the bloc’s unity and reflects its commitment to shared progress and fair development.

Despite excitement over membership, analysts noted that East Timor, with a GDP of around $2 billion and high levels of poverty and youth unemployment, will need strong technical assistance to fully integrate. The country, sandwiched between Indonesia and Australia, regained independence in 2002 after a brutal 24-year occupation by Indonesia following the end of Portuguese rule.

Over the next two days, ASEAN leaders are expected to engage with key global partners including China, Japan, India, Australia, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Trump arrived Sunday for his first Asia trip since returning to the White House and is expected to sign a trade deal with Malaysia later in the day, reports UNB.