(Oct 25): Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul plans to meet Donald Trump on Sunday in Malaysia and sign a peace declaration with Cambodia overseen by the US president, proceeding with his overseas travel amid funeral arrangements for Thailand's Queen Mother.
The death on Friday of Queen Sirikit, wife of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had thrown into doubt the Thai prime minister’s attendance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Trump had been pushing Thailand and Cambodia to sign a peace declaration during his Asia trip, and Anutin’s spokesman said earlier this month that the US president was using his demand for an agreement as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations.
While in Malaysia, Anutin will hold a bilateral meeting with Trump, the Thai government said in a statement on Saturday, “to strengthen cooperation on economic, security and sustainable development issues in the region”.
A spokesman for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry, Nikorndej Balankura, said in Malaysia on Saturday that Thailand and Cambodia will sign a “declaration”, rather than a “peace deal”, as it states they are “committed to reviewing their relations and work towards the resumption of normalisation and diplomatic relations”.
“It’s just the beginning, it’s not an end in itself,” he said, adding that Trump’s support for peace “is commendable and we appreciate that”.
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The signing of the declaration, planned for Sunday, is expected to be a key feature of Trump’s attendance at the Asean summit. The US president 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 on Saturday that the signing would be moved to early Sunday so he can fly back to Bangkok to attend a ceremony for the Queen Mother in the afternoon. Malaysia also said a planned bilateral meeting would be postponed.
Trump said en route to Malaysia that he is travelling to the country because of the role Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim played in helping to halt the fighting. The Malaysian leader will also oversee the event.
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“One of the reasons I am going to Malaysia is they were very, very much involved in the whole thing,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “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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