Malaysia calls on global powers to de-escalate conflicts
by HIDAYATH HISHAM
MALAYSIA is urging influential nations to take decisive steps in de-escalating wars and conflicts worldwide, warning that unchecked aggression risks dismantling global diplomacy and humanitarian norms.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said recent events in the Middle East show how quickly dialogue can collapse under the weight of targeted violence, citing Israeli attacks on Iranian territory as an example.
'The incessant, punitive and unprovoked Israeli strikes on Iranian territory undertaken even as crucial talks were underway are certainly aimed at shattering the possibility of dialogue itself.
'We are for effective engagement. We are for unconditional peace in the region,' he said during his keynote address at the 38th Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur today.
He stressed that international law and global order are under threat from actors operating with impunity, and called for powerful countries to step in.
Touching on the ongoing crisis in Gaza, Anwar said Malaysia will continue speaking out despite its geographic distance from the conflict.
He said the humanitarian toll has been too severe to ignore and called for immediate international action to enforce humanitarian law, secure a ceasefire and ensure aid reaches civilians in need.
'They require concerted international action to uphold humanitarian law, secure an immediate ceasefire and ensure the unfettered delivery of aid to those in desperate need. The credibility of the so-called rules-based order is on trial,' he said.
Turning to other global hotspots, Anwar said the unresolved India-Pakistan conflict, the Taiwan Straits, the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea all reflect rising fault lines across the region.
He said ASEAN remains united in condemning North Korea's provocations, reaffirming Malaysia's belief in diplomacy over confrontation.
'We must insist on the primacy of dialogue over disruption, of law over disorder of restraint over escalation,' he said.
Anwar added that Malaysia envisions a regional security framework that is inclusive and sustainable, rejecting rigid geopolitical blocs.
'Malaysia believes the future of this region lies not in hardened blocks of fragile balances, but in a security architecture that is inclusive, predictable, one in which active non-alignment is not merely tolerated, but enabled to thrive,' he said.
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