The Cambodian army announced it would resume joint military exercises with the United States early next year, in a bid to foster stronger relations nearly a decade since the last bilateral drills were held.
The Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) said in a statement on Facebook that it and other officials met with representatives from the U.S. Army Pacific and the Idaho National Guard between Aug. 31 and Sept. 4 to begin planning for Exercise Angkor Sentinel 2027.
The Sept. 4 statement said the meeting was “marking an important step toward the resumption of the bilateral exercise.”
Cambodian officials said both sides had discussed training activities, including a command post exercise, explosives disposal, and medical and engineering exchanges.
“Exercise Angkor Sentinel 2027 is scheduled to take place in February 2027, with the aim of strengthening interoperability and disaster-response capabilities, reflecting renewed momentum in Cambodia–U.S. military cooperation and a shared commitment to strengthening defense cooperation,” the statement said.
The announcement follows several meetings between U.S. and Cambodian officials in an effort to improve relations, after Phnom Penh suspended joint exercises with the U.S. military in 2017.
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Cambodia said it canceled the 2017 exercises because its armed forces were needed for local elections and an anti-drug campaign. Some observers, however, saw the move as a sign that then-Prime Minister Hun Sen was distancing Cambodia from the United States, according to a 2018 report by the Congressional Research Service.
Last month, Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby met with Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, as well as the country’s Minister of National Defense Tea Seiha.
Mutually-Beneficial Military Cooperation
Colby said in a series of Aug. 15 X posts that the United States was “building a stronger, practical defense relationship in a spirit of partnership, mutual respect, and pragmatism.”
The U.S. official said he and Seiha discussed Washington’s and Phnom Penh’s shared interest in expanding military cooperation in a way that is pragmatic and mutually beneficial.
“We are ready to work with countries like Cambodia where they are, through a realistic approach that focuses on where our interests overlap,” Colby said. “We want a Southeast Asia of independent, strong, and economically prospering nations.”
At the time, Manet said he was satisfied with the “positive momentum” in U.S.-Cambodian relations, as well as with the progress in preparing for Exercise Angkor Sentinel.
The Cambodian prime minister said that “the joint exercises and training not only build military capability but also serve as a vital bridge to foster close friendship between the armed forces of both countries.”
Washington has previously been concerned over China’s military presence at a Cambodian naval base on the Gulf of Thailand. China has assisted in upgrading the base, and the United States has voiced its suspicions that Beijing was granted special but secret privileges there. Cambodian officials have repeatedly rejected that claim.
US Seeks ‘Partners Not Protectorates’
Colby said on Aug. 10 that the United States was not disengaging from its Asian partners but wanted those partners to be more proactive in their own defense.
“America is definitely not disengaging from Asia,” Colby said in a speech in Manila, the Philippines. “We are not leaving; in fact, we are digging in, to ensure a favorable balance of power where it matters most.”
The Pentagon official made the remarks while on a broader tour of Asia, that included the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
Colby, the third-ranking official in the Department of War, said that when the United States asks for allies “to step up, to invest more in their own defense, and to take responsibility for their own sovereign security, we are not signaling abandonment.”
“We are looking for partners, not protectorates,” he said.
“When our partners are strong, deterrence is strong.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
