Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Cambodia and the US will restart long-delayed joint military exercises next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced on Friday as Phnom Penh seeks to mend ties.

The announcement of the first joint drills in a decade followed a brief meeting between Manet and US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby in Phnom Penh on Friday.

The resumption of military exercise Angkor Sentinel in 2027 will be "a bridge to build a close friendship between the armies of the two countries," the Cambodian leader wrote in a Facebook post.

He hailed "positive progress in Cambodia-US relations including the national defense sector."

Australia Aussie PM Albo pleads with Trump for massive tariff exemption

The US and Cambodia staged joint exercises for seven years before Phnom Penh scrapped them in early 2017, just months after holding its first Golden Dragon drills with China's military.

Cambodia and China held their largest-ever joint military exercises last year, involving advanced Chinese military hardware including artillery, warships, and robot battle dogs.

Phnom Penh has long been one of Beijing's staunchest allies in Southeast Asia, receiving billions of dollars in investments.

In recent years, the US has voiced concerns about the Chinese-funded renovation of Cambodia's Ream Naval Base, located off its southern coast in the Gulf of Thailand.

Washington says the base – which was originally built partly using US money – could give China a key strategic position near the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

Cambodian leaders have repeatedly denied the base is for use by any single foreign power and in January, a US warship made a port call there.