Ismira Lutfia | April 10, 2011
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, right, talking with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong during their meeting at the State Palace in Bogor on Friday. Hor Namhong on Saturday expressed disappointment over Thailand’s refusal to send Indonesian military observers to the disputed Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, right, talking with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong during their meeting at the State Palace in Bogor on Friday. Hor Namhong on Saturday expressed disappointment over Thailand’s refusal to send Indonesian military observers to the disputed
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Saturday said that he trusted Indonesia to mediate his country's border dispute with Thailand, despite Thailand's unwillingness to cooperate on the use of Indonesian observers.
But Hor said negotiations with Thailand remained difficult despite Indonesia, as the chair of Asean, taking on the role of mediator, as mandated by the UN Security Council and the Asean foreign affairs ministers meeting in Jakarta earlier this year.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning following a two-day meeting with the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), at the State Palace in Bogor, Hor said he "never can be optimistic about Thailand."
The JBC is comprised of senior delegates from Thailand and Cambodia. Hor and Indonesian Foreign Minister were present in Bogor to hold informal talks, despite the absence of their Thai counterpart, Kasit P Piromya.
Hor, who is also the deputy prime minister, said that differing opinions presented by the Thai government had stalled negotiation on where Indonesian observers should operate.
"It is very hard to deal with them [Thailand],” he said. “On the one hand, the government of Thailand and foreign minister said one thing, but the military, the defense minister said another thing.
Unlike Thailand, Hor said Cambodia had responded “positively and immediately” to three drafts proposed by Indonesia on the terms of reference for observer teams in monitoring ceasefires on both sides of the border.
The observer teams will each comprise 13 unarmed Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) officials and two officials from either the foreign and defense ministries.
"We are ready to provide the location on where Indonesian observers will operate ... but we are still waiting for Thailand to respond," Hor said.
On Friday, Marty said he was optimistic the impasse would be resolved over the following three days — with the two foreign ministers attending the special meeting between Japan and Asean in Jakarta on Saturday and the Asean foreign ministers retreat in Bangkok on Sunday and Monday.
Hor said that despite years of bilateral talks with Thailand on border issues, the two countries had not reached an agreement.
"Therefore, we need an outside party, or mediator, and the best outsider is Indonesia as the chair of Asean," Hor said.
He said that Indonesia had already shown "appropriate engagement" as mandated by Asean foreign affairs ministers' resolution, which at the time Thailand accepted the resolution, but has since rejected.
Meanwhile, Marty on Saturday said determining the areas where observers should operate was only a technical impasse — the issue was no longer whether or not there would be observer teams from Indonesia.
"Diplomacy is back in action,” he said.
“I am not saying it will be easy, it might take years until the problem is solved. But the important thing is it's time to solve this in a peaceful manner.”
“I always trust Indonesia,” he said, in response to question on whether Indonesia as a facilitator could help establish peace between the two neighboring countries.
But Hor said negotiations with Thailand remained difficult despite Indonesia, as the chair of Asean, taking on the role of mediator, as mandated by the UN Security Council and the Asean foreign affairs ministers meeting in Jakarta earlier this year.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning following a two-day meeting with the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), at the State Palace in Bogor, Hor said he "never can be optimistic about Thailand."
The JBC is comprised of senior delegates from Thailand and Cambodia. Hor and Indonesian Foreign Minister were present in Bogor to hold informal talks, despite the absence of their Thai counterpart, Kasit P Piromya.
Hor, who is also the deputy prime minister, said that differing opinions presented by the Thai government had stalled negotiation on where Indonesian observers should operate.
"It is very hard to deal with them [Thailand],” he said. “On the one hand, the government of Thailand and foreign minister said one thing, but the military, the defense minister said another thing.
“We don't know who we can trust and deal with, or who really has the right to negotiate.”
Unlike Thailand, Hor said Cambodia had responded “positively and immediately” to three drafts proposed by Indonesia on the terms of reference for observer teams in monitoring ceasefires on both sides of the border.
The observer teams will each comprise 13 unarmed Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) officials and two officials from either the foreign and defense ministries.
"We are ready to provide the location on where Indonesian observers will operate ... but we are still waiting for Thailand to respond," Hor said.
On Friday, Marty said he was optimistic the impasse would be resolved over the following three days — with the two foreign ministers attending the special meeting between Japan and Asean in Jakarta on Saturday and the Asean foreign ministers retreat in Bangkok on Sunday and Monday.
Hor said that despite years of bilateral talks with Thailand on border issues, the two countries had not reached an agreement.
"Therefore, we need an outside party, or mediator, and the best outsider is Indonesia as the chair of Asean," Hor said.
He said that Indonesia had already shown "appropriate engagement" as mandated by Asean foreign affairs ministers' resolution, which at the time Thailand accepted the resolution, but has since rejected.
"We cannot understand Thailand's stance on refusing to accept Indonesia's role in the process of negotiation," Hor said.
Meanwhile, Marty on Saturday said determining the areas where observers should operate was only a technical impasse — the issue was no longer whether or not there would be observer teams from Indonesia.
"Diplomacy is back in action,” he said.
“I am not saying it will be easy, it might take years until the problem is solved. But the important thing is it's time to solve this in a peaceful manner.”
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