simmers

Cambodia’s PM Hun Manet announced that the decision would take effect from midnight on Sunday.

Cambodia has announced it will stop all fuel imports from its neighbour Thailand as relations have plunged to their lowest ebb in more than a decade after a Cambodian soldier was killed last month in a disputed area of the border.

Prime Minister Hun Manet announced the decision on Sunday, posting on social media that it would take effect from midnight.

Manet said energy companies would be able to “import sufficiently from other sources to meet domestic fuel and gas demands” in the country.

Separately, on Sunday, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens not to travel to Thailand unnecessarily. Concurrently, Thailand’s consular affairs department warned Thais in Cambodia to avoid “protest areas”.

The ongoing escalation between the two countries began last month after a brief exchange of gunfire in the disputed border area killed a Cambodian soldier.

For more than a century, Cambodia and Thailand have contested sovereignty at various un-demarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border, which was first mapped by France when it colonised Cambodia in 1907.

But following the soldier’s death, the two countries have taken several measures to secure their borders, with both announcing closures of border checkpoints and crossings.

Leaked phone call

The border dispute created wider political turmoil after a leaked phone call on Wednesday between Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the former Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, who remains a powerful influence in his nation.

During the call, the Thai premier told Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to “the opposite side”, including a prominent Thai military commander at the border.

Soon after the leak, a major coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai Party, quit the ruling alliance, overshadowing Paetongtarn’s premiership.

But on Sunday, the Thai leader said all coalition partners have pledged support for her government, which she said would seek to maintain political stability to address threats to national security.

Following a meeting with her coalition partners, she said, “The country must move forward. Thailand must unite and push policies to solve problems for the people.”

A rally has, nevertheless, been called for June 28 to demand that Paetongtarn, the daughter of influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, resign.

Pakistan reiterates its commitment to the ceasefire but warns it will respond forcefully to any future Indian attacks.

India has ordered a Pakistani diplomat to leave the country within 24 hours as tensions simmer in the wake of heavy military exchanges between the nuclear-armed neighbours before a ceasefire was agreed last week.

The unnamed official, stationed at Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi, was accused by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday of “indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status”.

The move comes after a brief but intense military confrontation last week that threatened to erupt into the fifth full-scale war between the two countries. While the truce brought a temporary halt to cross-border missile and drone strikes, sporadic skirmishes continue along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border  in disputed Kashmir, a region claimed by both nations.

On Tuesday, Pakistan reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire but warned it would respond forcefully to any future attacks.

The statement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned in his first national address since the truce that India would strike “terrorist hideouts” across the border if provoked again.

The ultranationalist Hindu leader added that India “only paused” its military action against Pakistan.

Modi’s remarks were swiftly condemned by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called them “provocative and inflammatory”.

“At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation,” it said.

“Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability,” the statement continued, adding that any future aggression would receive a response.

The conflict ignited after a deadly April 22 shooting attack in the Pahalgam area of India-administered Kashmir, where 25 Indian tourists and one Nepalese visitor were killed. India accused Pakistan’s government of links to the attacks – an accusation Islamabad strongly denied.

India launched strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

According to Islamabad, 40 civilians and 11 Pakistani military personnel were killed in last week’s violence. India said at least 16 civilians and five Indian soldiers were killed.

The fighting marked the most severe exchange between the two countries in nearly 30 years and ended only after sustained diplomatic pressure. On Monday, India said it held a rare phone call with Pakistan’s military leaders, agreeing to uphold the ceasefire and explore ways to de-escalate the conflict.

Fragile ceasefire

Despite the ceasefire, sporadic violence continued on Tuesday with Indian forces reporting a gun battle in southern Kashmir’s Shopian district. The army said three suspected fighters were killed in a “search and destroy” operation launched on intelligence input.

On Tuesday, Modi visited Adampur airbase near the border and reiterated India’s stance in a speech to air force personnel. “We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism,” he said.

“We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive.”

Meanwhile, both sides have taken a series of retaliatory diplomatic and economic measures.

India has suspended most visa services for Pakistani nationals, halted bilateral trade and announced its intention to unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a World Bank-brokered water-sharing agreement in place since 1960 that is critical for farming.

In response, Pakistan banned visas for Indians, closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and imposed a reciprocal trade embargo.