Malaysia, Singapore share common stand on humanitarian aid to Palestine, says Anwar

The Star

Malaysia and Singapore agree that providing humanitarian assistance to Palestine is paramount.  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that during a joint press conference with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the 10th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat on Monday (Oct 30), alluding to the different approach taken by each side since the Israel-Palestine conflict began on Oct 7.  Meanwhile, Lee said he does not think that the conflict should affect Singapore-Malaysia bilateral relations, and pointed out that Malaysia's situation is not the same as Singapore's due to a different diplomatic situation, but there's no reason for that to cause difficulty between the two countries.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Now I invite Ms Afifah Arifin from CNA for the last question.

00:05 Good afternoon, Prime Minister.

00:07 Amid the current situation in the Middle East,

00:11 what specific approaches will Singapore and Malaysia take

00:15 to ensure that the reactions to the war and the ground sentiments in both countries

00:20 do not have any spillover effects, especially on mutual investments, bilateral cooperation,

00:25 and our long-standing ties?

00:27 I don't think they should affect our bilateral relations.

00:30 I think we've each expressed our views on what's happening in the Middle East.

00:34 Singapore has made repeated statements about this and condemned what's happening,

00:40 the violence, the human tragedy of civilians and innocent victims being killed and massacred,

00:51 and hoping that the two parties can make progress towards a negotiated two-state solution to the Middle East.

01:02 And I think Singaporeans understand where we stand.

01:05 Malaysia also has made its position clear. I think Datuk Seri is here.

01:09 Their situation is not the same as ours because we have diplomatic relations with Israel,

01:16 but at the same time we have friendly relations with the Palestine Authority.

01:21 And Malaysia has very friendly relations with the Palestine Authority,

01:26 but you don't have diplomatic relations with Israel.

01:29 So the diplomatic situation is not identical,

01:32 but there's no reason for that to cause a difficulty between Malaysia and Singapore.

01:37 I think the common position is important.

01:40 Singapore and Malaysia supported the UN resolution on this ceasefire.

01:47 That is to me very critical for now, and humanitarian assistance.

01:53 And that position is jointly endorsed by both countries and the majority of the countries of the world.

02:05 We take, of course, a much stronger position because, as I've said,

02:11 the whole issue is not what happened two weeks ago, but the issue what we term as politics of dispossession.

02:20 Countries cannot continue to colonize another part of the Palestinian lands.

02:28 But what is critical for now is, of course, peace and stop the killings of civilians, babies and women.

02:41 And of course the sentiment in Malaysia is very strong,

02:44 and I've been in touch with many of the Arab leaders too,

02:52 and have expressed our position that we support a peaceful resolution,

02:56 an immediate resolution to the conflict, but humanitarian assistance is paramount.

03:02 Thank you.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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