What Cambodia seeking UN adjudication says about regional trust levels
Bhavan Jaipragas Deputy Opinion Editor
Cambodian media have published Prime Minister Hun Manet's letter to the UN Security Council's current president, Pakistan's UN Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, calling for an urgent convening of the 15-member body.
One would have to go back to February 2011 for the last time an Asean country asked the Security Council to convene an urgent meeting over armed conflict with a neighbour.
As is the case now, it was also Cambodia asking the world body to intervene over border fighting with Thailand. That time it was over the Preah Vihear Temple, located on the border of both countries and a long contentious issue which had flared into artillery exchanges.
The Security Council will likely accede to the request in the coming days.
Nobody should be expecting any major outcome however – the result may be the same as in 2011: calling for both sides to show maximum restraint and for Asean to play an active role in dispute resolution.
It's not a good look for the region, whether for Asean or the state of bilateral ties. If countries need to take the drastic step of asking the Security Council, sitting in New York, to adjudicate, what does it say about trust in another regional third party, whether Asean or a third country in the region that could mediate?
This is an important point for reflection. As much as we talk about the relative peace that has endured in the region since the 1990s, it remains tenuous and cannot be taken for granted.