ASEAN Beat

Are Cambodia and Laos Really Any Closer to Resolving Their Border Dispute?

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ASEAN Beat

Are Cambodia and Laos Really Any Closer to Resolving Their Border Dispute?

Despite some incremental progress, deeper questions remain unresolved.

Cambodia and Los have again agreed to work together to resolve the issue of their disputed border area. This time, two countries decided to set up a coordination mechanism at the departmental level to facilitate the work, while seeking more frequent meetings between the board committees of their own.

Given the fact that border disputes have been the main source of tension between Cambodia and Laos, which have generally enjoyed a good relationship, it might certainly seem encouraging to see two countries putting in the effort together. At the same time, it is still a bit worrisome that the discussions have not made progress fast enough and more concrete measures have not been taken when considering the disputes have caused military tension between the two.

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