Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met with her Malaysian
counterpart Najib Tun Razak at the fifth annual consultation to
strengthen friendship and reaffirm the close partnership between the two
countries.
The fifth consultation took place during the Thai
PM’s one-day visit on February 28 to Malaysia at the invitation of
the Malaysian Government.
On the day, the two
countries signed a Cross-Border Agreement to replace the ‘Traffic Across
the Boundary between the Malay States and Thailand ‘, which was
signed in Bangkok on June 24, 1940.
Home Minister of Malaysia
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein was quoted as saying that the new
agreement will enhance security and facilitate cross-border movements
between the two countries.
Prior to Yingluck’s visit, in Kuala
Lumpur, the Thai Government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)
rebel group signed a deal to formally start peace talks, aimed at ending
a nine-year conflict that has claimed 5,500 lives.
Earlier on February 27 also in Kuala Lumpur, the Filipino Government
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed an Annex on
Transitional Arrangements and Modalities (TAM), paving a way to
establish Bangsamoro region which takes the place of southern
Philippines’ Mindanao Muslim autonomous region.
The move is part of a peace agenda after the two sides signed a historic
agreement on October 15, 2012, marking an end to conflict in Mindanao
and look toward a final peace deal by 2016.-VNA