India at Organisation of Islamic Cooperation makes sense: Indonesia FM Retno Marsudi
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Mar 24, 2019
Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi
Indonesia, home to the world’s biggest Muslim population, has justified the invitation extended to India by the United Arab Emirates as a Guest of Honour for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting on March 1-2 and termed it an appropriate move.
“The invite extended to India by hosts UAE to attend the OIC foreign ministers meet was an appropriate move and makes sense as India has almost 190 million Muslims,” Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi told ET in an exclusive interaction before she left for Turkey for an emergency OIC meet on the New Zealand attacks. Marsudi, who had a brief chat with her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in Abu Dhabi on March 1, described her as her sister. “India is a pluralist country. Indonesia is a pluralist country. India and Indonesia are two big democracies. We are trying to strengthen cooperation to create peace and tolerance in the world,” she said.
Indonesia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and head of the sanctions committee on counter terrorism, played a key role in the fresh move to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist recently. “Radical ideas are increasing and so are acts of terror. But terrorism doesn’t have a religion. Terrorism cannot be justified in the pretext of religion,” the Indonesian foreign minister emphasised when asked about the attacks in Pulwama and more recently in New Zealand.
Marsudi, credited with launching the initiative to create Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy and a proponent of inclusive approach, noted that India and Indonesia have common goals in their respective Indo-Pacific strategies.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...sia-fm-retno-marsudi/articleshow/68553057.cms