Malaysia Urges Parties To Step Back From Escalation In West Asia

By V.Sankara

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has urged all parties involved in escalating conflicts in West Asia to step back from further escalation, warning that the consequences could reverberate through global energy, trade and markets.

Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said escalating conflict threatened some of the world’s most important routes for energy and trade, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandab.

“Malaysia therefore urges all parties to step back from escalation,” he said in his national statement at the General Debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) here on Saturday.

He said diplomacy had shown that dialogue was possible and that the path must not be abandoned.

“Or we risk sending further shockwaves through global markets and needlessly bringing suffering to innocent families around the world,” he said.

Mohamad said the consequences of conflict did not stop at the affected regions, as families in Southeast Asia could also feel the impact through higher food, fuel and living costs.

“A family in Southeast Asia has no part in these disputes. Yet that family still pays the price when food, fuel, and the cost of living rise,” he said.

He said in an increasingly interconnected world, war could travel beyond borders just as technologies could rapidly spread and disrupt societies.

Mohamad is in New York from Sept 23 to 27 for Malaysia’s participation in the 81st UNGA.

-- BERNAMA