'Speak plainly, act decisively': Anwar on Israeli air strikes on Iran
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on global leaders to speak plainly and act decisively to prevent further escalation following Israeli air strikes on Iran.
The attacks constitute a blatant violation of international law, he said, warning that they undermine diplomacy and threaten global stability.
"Events in the Middle East have made it patently clear how the tables of diplomacy could be instantly overturned by the fury of calculated violence.
"The incessant, punitive, and unprovoked Israeli strikes on Iranian territory which was undertaken even as crucial talks were underway are clearly aimed at shattering the possibility of dialogue itself.
"Such actions, carried out with utter impunity, constitute a blatant violation of international law, further eroding the norms that hold the global order together.
"We call on those with power and influence to speak plainly and act decisively to restrain further escalation," Anwar said in his keynote address at the 38th Asia Pacific Roundtable.
He also called for concerted international action to uphold humanitarian law in regards to the worsening tragedy in Gaza.
"The staggering civilian casualties, overwhelmingly women and children, demand far more than pious proclamations of concern.
"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.
Anwar also said the unresolved tensions between Pakistan and India remain a delicate fault line.
He said their future hinges not only on old grievances but also on present choices of whether to invest in stability or continue edging towards the cusp of catastrophe.
The same pressures, he said, is in Asia Pacific specifically in the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea.
"Here, as ever, we must insist on the primacy of dialogue over disruption, of law over disorder, of restraint over escalation.
Anwar said Malaysia envisions a regional security framework that is inclusive and rules-based, where non-alignment is respected.
He said that while reshaping the region may not be possible, efforts must be made to prevent its worst outcomes.
"What we do now, how we manage tensions, balance relationships, and defend our interests, will decide how the region weathers the storms ahead," he said.
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