ASEAN, Thailand-Cambodia border agreement. Trump from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo

Today's headlines: India and China have resumed direct flights suspended in 2020; New clashes and casualties on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with delegations meeting in Istanbul; Hong Kong court hands down three sentences of up to 18 years for attacks; Israel wants to make its approval a condition for foreign forces to be admitted to Gaza under Trump's plan.

CAMBODIA - THAILAND - MALAYSIA - UNITED STATES

Cambodia and Thailand have signed a document committing themselves to resolving hostilities on their shared border. This move was strongly supported by Trump - in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN 2025 summit, the first stop on his diplomatic tour of Asia - who takes credit for mediating the decade-long dispute. Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (current ASEAN chair) negotiated a ceasefire in July, ending a bloody five-day conflict. However, obstacles to lasting peace remain; the official text does not describe it as a peace agreement, but as a joint statement “on the results of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia”. Meanwhile, Trump left for Tokyo this morning, the second leg of his Asian tour.

INDIA - CHINA

Direct flights between India and China have been restored. They were first suspended during the Covid pandemic in early 2020 and had not resumed after clashes between the two countries' armies in the disputed Himalayan border region caused tensions to flare. In recent months, Delhi and Beijing have been gradually mending relations - in August, Modi visited China for the first time in seven years - and last year they reached an agreement on border patrols.

PAKISTAN - AFGHANISTAN

Five Pakistani soldiers and 25 militants have died in clashes near the border with Afghanistan, while the two countries are meeting in Istanbul to try to ease tensions after the bloodiest fighting in recent years. The Taliban deny accusations of harbouring militants and say Pakistan's military operations violate Afghan sovereignty. Pakistan's Defence Minister has said that failure to reach an agreement would lead to ‘open warfare’.

HONG KONG

A Hong Kong court has sentenced three people to up to 18 years in prison for attempted bombings in 2019 and 2020 as a violent response to police repression of the 2019 protests. A jury found Ho Cheuk-wai, 41, Lee Ka-pan, 31, and Cheung Ka-chun, 35, guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life or property - such as a hospital and a train. Ho was sentenced to 18 years, while the others were sentenced to 16 years and eight months.

ISRAEL - GAZA

Netanyahu has stated that Israel will decide which foreign forces to admit to Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump's plan. The US has ruled out sending soldiers to the Gaza Strip; instead, talks have been initiated with Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute to the multinational force. Meanwhile, UNRWA says Israel continues to deny entry into Gaza to its international staff and humanitarian aid, and Hamas continues to search for the 13 bodies of Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, with the Red Cross and Egyptian teams.

IRAN - BELARUS

Iran and Belarus have agreed on long-term cooperation in the technical-military field, signing a pact in Minsk between the head of the Belarusian State Military-Industrial Committee, Dmitry Pandus, and Iran's Deputy Defence Minister, responsible for matters relating to support for the armed forces, Masud Orai, who assured that ‘Tehran is always happy to develop such relations’ with friendly and independent countries.

ARMENIA

The chairman of Armenia's Committee for the Defence of Freedom of Speech, Ašot Melikyan, presented a report for the third quarter of 2025 stating that “the Armenian media space is extremely polarised, with a lack of comprehensive analysis of issues and objective information on situations”, especially with regard to the peace agreement yet to be signed with Azerbaijan, with “only biased comments”.

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