Annual Meeting of the UNAOC Group of Friends

[8 February 2022]

Statement by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative of India to the UN

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Thank you Excellency,

I thank the UN Alliance of Civilizations for organising this meeting of the Group of Friends.

At a time when we face increasingly widening divisions and fissures between Member States and between civilizations, it is time to recall what the great Indian philosopher, Swami Vivekananda said (Quote) "We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true".(Unquote)

Throughout history, millions who faced persecution or subjected to discrimination have always found refuge in India, including the Jewish community, Zorastrians and many others from our own neighbourhood.

The UNAOC has an important mandate to foster genuine culture of peace and promote understanding between different cultures, religions, faith and indeed civilizations.

In fact, when we talk about civilizations, one can hardly have an inter-civilizational dialogue without the Indian civilization being part and parcel of this dialogue. The Indian civilization is an embodiment of diversity and of universal values of democracy and pluralism.

Consequently, I would urge the UNAOC to not restrict itself to the three Abrahamic religions but go beyond them to have greater inclusivity in the dialogue process and ensure that the inter-religious dialogue encompasses all faiths and is not selective.

In this context, we strongly urge the UNAOC to focus on the rise of contemporary forms of hate and intolerance against non-Abrahamic religions as well.

Friends,

The world stands divided on a range of issues. This is not the time to divide us even further. Our fight is against radical ideologies conducive to terrorism and not against pluralism and democracy.

In the spirit of our ethos of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - The World is one family, India will continue to strengthen the activities of UNAOC to promote understanding, tolerance and respect.

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