Minister of National Defence Tea Banh on Wednesday agreed with a senior Lao government official that recent media reports of a military confrontation at the border were “exaggerated information”.

“One media outlet exaggerated information that there were problems at the border and there had been a confrontation between troops. This is just an exaggeration. The fact is there is nothing to these reports.

“There was a small issue, but the two sides talked. We contacted each other to negotiate with mutual understanding,” Banh said.

Banh said the government would not take legal action against the media outlets responsible for the misleading reports.

“The media sometimes just does things to be interesting . . . we will not take any action,” he said.

Earlier, the Vientiane Times reported that Anousine Khattiyalath, the deputy director-general of the Lao National Boundary Committee Office, told a press conference at the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday that contrary to “disinformation”, the situation on the Laos-Cambodia border was normal.

“I would like to confirm that the Laos-Cambodia border situation remains normal, which is different from what some domestic and foreign news outlets have reported,” Anousine said.

He said the disinformation in the reports was misleading and had damaged the image of the relationship between Laos and Cambodia.

He said the nations are friendly neighbouring countries that respect each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Laos and Cambodia were committed to addressing border issues through peaceful and diplomatic channels, Anousine said.