Cambodia won't start a war against Thailand, although both sides have border dispute unsolved and an armed clash occurred at the border in October, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday at a scholarship-awarding ceremony.
"We don't wage war against any country. We knew war clearly because we used to have civil war. And we took years to seek peace. We have political stability now and don't want to lose it," he said.
"We need peace and want to avoid any war at the border with Thailand in order to ease tension. Both sides are continuing talks for a peaceful deal," he said.
The history made the situation complicated and the current or next generation has to solve it, he added.
Meanwhile, according to the draft 2009 national budget, the Cambodian government intends to increase funding for the defense and internal security sector to 223 million U.S. dollars, a 64 percent rise over 2008.
The Cambodian-Thai border was demarcated according to the maps drawn almost 100 years ago by the French colonists. There are now only 73 demarcation posts along the 805-km border between the two countries, 50 percent of which are recognized by the Thai side.
Dispute over the ownership of some borderland and the 900-year-old Preah Vihear Temple has triggered tension between the two troops since July this year, which climaxed in October when two Cambodian soldiers were shot dead during the military confrontation.
The International Court of Justice decided in 1962 that the temple and its surrounding area belong to Cambodia.
Source: Xinhua
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