Indonesia Proposes To Host Interfaith Dialog

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi has proposed that her country will host an interfaith dialog to boost cooperation within Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia (MIKTA) to combat terrorism.

The minister put forth the proposal during the MIKTA foreign ministerial level meeting on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2015, according to a press statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry's office received here on Monday.

Marsudi noted that interfaith dialog plays an important role in the persuasive approach to handling acts of terrorism.

The Indonesian foreign minister also proposed to eliminate terrorism and tackle foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) through intelligence cooperation and information exchange among MIKTA countries.

"Indonesia is always committed to the fight against terrorism, as it needs to be handled comprehensively through prevention, early detection, legal action, and rehabilitation," she remarked.

The minister also expressed the commitment of the respective countries to supporting a new agreement on climate change that is expected to be reached at the conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)/COP-21 in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

 Marsudi pointed out that Indonesia had already conveyed the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to the secretariat of UNFCCC on September 24, 2015.

Indonesia is committed to voluntarily reducing emissions by 29-41 percent in 2030, with the support of the international community.  

The meeting was the fourth foreign ministerial level meeting of the MIKTA countries since 2013. (WDY)