Khmer Circle:
"Mending fences" is a diplomatic way of putting it and is entirely in line with how Vietnamese diplomacy operates, especially, with their subjugated "neighbours" - Laos and Cambodia.
Geographical needs, maintaining peaceful neighbourly relations and co-operation and even intermarriage arrangements that would cement and sabotage the ruling families and courts of these smaller nations have all been underlying intentions and practices of Vietnam's scheming elite. Pol Pot himself when in power had attended to this tripartite gathering in Hanoi or a tea meeting with Uncle Ho. Sipping this tea during a friendly, jovial chat with Uncle Ho could determine the ultimate fate of the invitee shortly afterwards as Pol Pot and many of Ho's own comrades had discovered during and after Ho's lifetime.
Also lets see if Hanoi could 'mend fences' with their other neighbour to the north - China - or even summon Xi Jinping to this regular pep talk or tea meeting. After all, the Chinese and the Vietnamese have been 'neighbours' for a lot longer than either of them have been with the people of Laos and Cambodia.
^^^
The Ho Chi Minh City Summit signals a pragmatic
reset in Vietnam-Cambodia relations, driven by economic interests
rather than ideology. Successful cooperation would bring the added
advantage of enhancing their collective bargaining power with external
actors and strategic flexibility as the great power competition
intensifies.
On 22 February 2025, a quiet diplomatic breakthrough unfolded in Ho
Chi Minh City (HCMC). Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet and his
father, Hun Sen, the powerful chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party
(CPP), travelled by road to Vietnam’s southern metropolis — pointedly
not to Hanoi, the political capital nearly 2,000km away. Awaiting them
was an unprecedented delegation:
Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham
Minh Chinh, and almost the entire Politburo, who had made the two-hour
flight south. This carefully orchestrated summit, later joined by
Laotian leaders, marked the first trilateral Indo-Chinese gathering in
three years and signals a recalibration of Vietnam’s approach to its
western neighbours.
The venue spoke volumes. The Independence Palace, formerly known as
Norodom Palace (named after Cambodia’s royal dynasty), provided a
symbolic backdrop acknowledging Cambodia’s historical significance. By
meeting in HCMC — just 200km from Phnom Penh — Vietnam demonstrated new
flexibility in its regional diplomacy, which normally involves others
having to travel to Hanoi for this type of summit. The unprecedented
dispatch of virtually the entire Politburo outside the capital
underscores the importance Vietnam now attaches to rebuilding this
relationship.