The world is not blind to the hypocrisy of Western leadership as it has repeatedly failed to condemn Israeli aggression, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said regarding the situation unfolding in Gaza.
"A good student of history and geopolitics wouldn't be necessarily surprised that there is so much contradiction and hypocrisy in the arena of international politics," the Malaysian PM said drawing marked parallels with Russia's invasion of Ukraine during an interview with Arab News on Friday (20 October).
"For example, it condemns Russia for the aggression because of the Russian decision to take a Russian enclave in Ukraine. Fair. That is condemned. But with Israeli aggression taking over the legitimate lands of the Palestinians, that is condoned.," he said, adding, "We must wake up and see the stark hypocrisy that cannot continue."
Anwar Ibrahim, who attended the inaugural GCC-ASEAN Summit in Riyadh, said the conflict in the Middle East had exposed what he saw as a proclivity for "contradiction and hypocrisy" in international politics, noting that there is "talk about human rights on one end," but the denial of those same rights to others.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in his opening address at the summit, said: "As we gather, we are saddened by the escalating violence that Gaza is witnessing today, the price of which is being paid by innocent civilians."
He underscored the need to "stop military operations against civilians ... and to create conditions for the return of stability and the achievement of lasting peace that ensures reaching a just solution to establish a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders."
The Malaysian PM said the Saudi crown prince's remarks were "passionate and timely," adding that it was vital for an Arab leader to take not only a "firm" position on the crisis in Gaza but also one based on "humanitarian grounds."
Addressing the summit in his role as its country coordinator, Anwar reiterated the Saudi crown prince's desire to see a two-state solution based on historic borders within the 1967 boundaries. He said Malaysia was fully behind the efforts of Saudi Arabia and the GCC to bring the fighting to a close and prevent the outbreak of a wider war.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.