India, Indonesia must walk hand in hand to promote peace, says prominent Indonesian Muslim leader

Jakarta: The chairman of a prominent Indonesian Islamic organisation on Friday condemned terrorism in all its forms and asked India and Indonesia to walk hand in hand to promote peace and economic development, as he met the visiting all-party Indian delegation.

The all-party parliamentary delegation, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, is here with a mission to convey New Delhi's unequivocal stance about India's fight against terrorism to local political and diplomatic leadership and think tanks.

The delegation met with KH Ulil Abshar Abdalla, Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) and Kholili Kholil, Committee Member of NU, the world's largest Islamic organisation and sought their unwavering support against violence and religious extremism.

"As peace-loving countries with the largest Muslim populations with shared values of Unity in Diversity or “Binneka Tunggal Ika” practised as state policy as well as in daily lives, the leader of the delegation urged NU leaders to support India and condemn cross border terrorism to give a strong message to the world," the Indian Embassy in Jakarta said on X.

"Condemning terrorism and the attack on innocent civilians, KH Ulil said he felt the pain of India & called for India and Indonesia to walk hand in hand to promote peace, economic development," it said.

On Thursday, the delegation met with National Mandate Party (PAN) leaders who categorically stated that “religion and race cannot serve as a basis for exporting terrorism.”

The delegation also interacted with Resident Ambassadors of 20 friendly countries in Indonesia and shared their insights on India’s calibrated and strong response through Operation Sindoor.

The Indian team also held an insightful interaction with scholars and researchers from Indonesia-based think tanks and academia, including the Indonesian Council of World Affairs (ICWA); Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI); The Habibie Centre; Indo-Pacific Strategic Intelligence Centre for Indonesia Policy Studies (ISI-CIPS), University of Indonesia, and the Indonesia Air Power Studies Centre.

On Wednesday, the delegation met Indonesian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Arief Havas Oegroseno and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn. The Indian team also interacted with Muhammad Husein Fadlulloh, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, and Muhammad Rofiqi, Chairperson of the Indonesia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, to sensitise them on India's strong commitment against terrorism.

Besides Jha, the delegation comprises MPs Aparajita Sarangi (BJP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Brij Lal (BJP), John Brittas (CPI-M), Pradan Baruah (BJP), Hemang Joshi (BJP), former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid and former ambassador of India to France and Bahrain Mohan Kumar.

The delegation is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasize Pakistan’s links to terrorism.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.

Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.

The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.