Closely monitoring situation: India on Thailand-Cambodia border clashes

In a statement, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "We are closely monitoring the situation along the border between Cambodia and Thailand."

Jaiswal said India hopes the two countries will take measures for a cessation of hostilities and prevention of further escalation.

"Indian travellers in the region may contact our respective Embassies in the two countries for any assistance," he advised Indian tourists in his statement.

Both Cambodia and Thailand attract a large number of tourists every year.

The death toll in the ongoing border clashes between the two nations has touched 32.

Cambodia's ambassador to the UN, Chhea Keo, said his country asked for a truce "unconditionally", adding that Phnom Penh also wanted a "peaceful solution of the dispute", reported BBC.

Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced since the conflict began on Saturday with both the countries blaming of firing the first shots.

The UN Secretary-General has urged “utmost restraint” amid intensifying border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia as the Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday to address the most serious escalation between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in more than a decade.

The clashes, which began on 24 July, reportedly involved exchanges of gunfire, artillery shelling and rocket fire, with Thailand having conducted airstrikes inside Cambodian territory.

UN humanitarian officials confirmed civilian casualties, including children.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also appealed for “maximum restraint”.

June Kunugi, Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific – based in Bangkok – urged both countries to protect children and the critical services they depend on, in line with their obligations under international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Children must be protected at all times and their safety and wellbeing must be prioritised, while schools must remain safe spaces for learning,” she said.

Security Council private meeting

At UN Headquarters in New York, ambassadors convened for an emergency private meeting of the Security Council to discuss the situation.

Representatives of Thailand and Cambodia were said to be in attendance, with Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Asia and the Pacific at the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPPA), briefing.

Private meetings of the Security Council are closed to the public, but considered a formal meeting.

A longstanding dispute

The last major flare-up between the two countries occurred in 2011, when days of border fighting near the historic Preah Vihear temple – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – left multiple casualties on both sides.

Then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had called for an immediate, verifiable ceasefire and urged both countries to resolve their dispute through dialogue, not military means.

That escalation followed a 2008 troop build-up around the 11th-century Hindu temple, which sits on the Cambodian side of the border.

Indian Hotline Numbers:
Embassy of India in Bangkok, Thailand
Helpline : + 66 61 881 9218 ( what’s app calls also)

Embassy of India in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Helpline: +855 92 881 676 ( for what’s app calls also)