JAKARTA: Indonesia began hosting a meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States on Monday with a special focus on the situation in Gaza, as Jakarta seeks to strategize efforts for Palestine among Muslim countries.

Representatives from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s member countries are in Jakarta for the 19th Session of the PUIC Conference, which is being hosted by Indonesia’s House of Representatives from May 12-15.

Delegations have arrived from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, and Egypt, among other countries.

Discussions during the three-day event will cover Palestine and particularly Gaza, where 19 months of Israeli attacks have killed more than 52,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory’s civilian infrastructure, while Tel Aviv continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. 

“I raised Palestine as one of the main topics during the opening session. And everyone agreed to continue fighting for Palestinian independence and to punish Zionist Israel for brutality and genocide,” Mardani Ali Sera, head of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, or BKSAP, said in a statement.

The focus on Palestine had been raised in the weeks leading up to the conference by Indonesian officials, who saw the meeting as an opportunity to coordinate collective action.

“We are all here to talk about the situation in Gaza, how we can help the people of Palestine in various aspects,” BKSAP deputy head Muhammad Husein Fadlulloh said.

“But what’s more important is how we can unite our strategies so that the international community, outside of OIC, will also support this fight.”

A staunch supporter of Palestine, the Indonesian government and its people see Palestinian statehood as being mandated by its own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.

Since Israel began its assault on Gaza, Indonesians have shown their support of Palestine through a series of mass demonstrations, organized boycotts and solidarity campaigns. 

Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon, who hosted a cultural dinner with OIC member states ahead of the start of the conference, is among those calling for more action on Palestine, including a permanent ceasefire.

“Our efforts must also be intensified to champion Palestinian independence and (a) permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” he said in a speech on Sunday, addressing representatives of OIC countries.

“Collective steps to contribute to international peace and security is a necessity, not an option. We must promote the Islamic values of peace and equality, ensuring that the voice of the voiceless are heard, the right to self-determination is fulfilled and that cultural justice triumphs.”

GENEVA: The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
After their first talks since US President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust.”
“Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters.
US President Donald Trump had imposed duties of 145 percent on imports for China last month — compared to 10 percent for other countries in the global tariff blitz he launched last month.
Beijing hit back with duties of 125 percent on US goods.
Bessent said the two sides agreed to reduce those tariffs by 115 percentage points, taking US tariffs to 30 percent and those by China to 10 percent.
In their statement, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.”
China hailed the “substantial progress” made at the talks.
“This move... is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” the Chinese commerce ministry said, adding that it hoped Washington would keep working with China “to correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises.”
The dollar, which tumbled after Trump launched his tariff blitz in April, rallied on the news while US stock futures soared. European and Asian markets also rallied.
The trade dispute between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets, raising fears the tariffs would rekindle inflation and cause a global economic downturn.
The head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, praised the talks on Sunday as a “significant step forward” that “bode well for the future.”
“Amid current global tensions, this progress is important not only for the US and China but also for the rest of the world, including the most vulnerable economies,” she added.
Ahead of the meeting at the discreet villa residence of Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Trump had signalled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an “80 percent Tariff on China seems right!“
However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally, saying China would also need to make concessions.
The Geneva meeting came days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since he unleashed his blitz of global tariffs.
The five-page, nonbinding deal confirmed to nervous investors that Washington was willing to negotiate sector-specific relief from recent duties.
But Trump maintained a 10 percent levy on most British goods, and threatened to keep it in place as a baseline rate for most other countries.