KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has commended Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping for advocating peace and condemning atrocities against the people of Gaza, Iran and Lebanon.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia has consistently taken a firm position against attacks by Israel while upholding its principles independently of any superpower.
"That's why we took a very strong position against the initial attack by the Zionist regime, which was carried out with the support of the United States.
"We took a decision in Parliament, bipartisan and continued to engage," he said during an exclusive interview with Russian international television network RT on Thursday (June 18) on the sidelines of his official visit to Kazan, Russia, where he attended the Commemorative Summit marking the 35th anniversary of Asean-Russia relations.
Anwar said he had also engaged with leaders from the Gulf, Pakistan and Turkiye, as well as Iran, as part of efforts to seek a fair resolution to the conflict.
Expressing hope that those efforts would yield a fair outcome, he said: "And that's why I have publicly commended and thanked President Putin and President Xi Jinping for taking a position for peace and to condemn the atrocities against the people of Iran, Gaza and now Lebanon."
He stressed that Malaysia and Asean uphold the principle of centrality rather than neutrality and would not remain silent in the face of atrocities.
"For Malaysia in particular and of course for Asean, we don't even use the word neutrality because we are not neutral when it comes to Gaza or the atrocities inflicted or the attack against Lebanon.
"So we use the term centrality. It means that we are not tied to any particular ideological position or superpower," he said, adding that centrality did not prevent Asean from taking positions on human rights violations, abuses and atrocities committed against minorities.
Anwar said it was not easy to navigate such issues but Malaysia continued to take an independent view despite geopolitical concerns involving major powers.
The Prime Minister also criticised what he described as Western hypocrisy in condoning Israel's actions.
"How do you then condone a position taken by a country like Israel and then backed by the United States, to attack another independent nation or country?
"And the ramifications and repercussions spread all over the Gulf and now the international community. I'm not talking about the economic hardships because of the war. I'm talking about the core principle.
"Do we condone this? Or can we allow this sort of hypocrisy to persist in this small, modern, civilised world?" he asaked.
Anwar said while some may criticise Iran over its response, there should not be silence over the aggression against the country.
"But why is there complete silence when it comes to the atrocities, the aggression against Iran? So you see, there is this contradiction, which I call hypocrisy, that must be stopped," he said. – Bernama
