Phnom Penh: The Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) and the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral army relations during a meeting at the RCA headquarters. The meeting on February 24 included H.E. General Mao Sophan, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and RCA Commander, and H.E. General Ronald P. Clark, Commanding General of the USARPAC, who led a delegation on an official visit to Cambodia.

According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, both commanders celebrated the 75th anniversary of Cambodia-U.S. diplomatic relations and recognized the consistent growth of bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, tourism, culture, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, demining, recovery of missing American military personnel, and defense collaboration.

H.E. General Mao Sophan expressed his gratitude for the U.S.’s resumption of military training programs for Cambodian officers and its ongoing support for Cambodia’s demining efforts. He highlighted the significance of military dialogue in fostering mutual trust and emphasized his commitment to working closely with H.E. General Ronald P. Clark to enhance bilateral cooperation based on friendship, transparency, and mutual benefit.

H.E. General Ronald P. Clark acknowledged the positive trajectory of Cambodia-U.S. military cooperation, mentioning the resumption of port calls after an eight-year hiatus. He expressed appreciation for Cambodia’s humanitarian efforts in the search and recovery of missing American personnel, viewing it as a gesture of goodwill and commitment to shared humanitarian values. He stated that his visit aimed to reinforce and expand defense ties between Cambodia and the U.S., especially between the RCA and USARPAC.

The meeting also involved discussions on various cooperative initiatives, including cooperation in humanitarian mine action, POW/MIA efforts, subject matter expert exchanges across military domains, RCA-U.S. land forces talks, the potential co-hosting of the Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS), and the resumption of the Angkor Sentinel Exercise.