Fight terror with values: Indian FM

External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj raised the issue of terrorism at the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that opened in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

However, she stressed that this menace cannot be fought only through “military, intelligence or diplomatic means.” This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through personal contacts and on social media.

Addressing the inaugural plenary of the meet as the Guest of Honour, Swaraj said, “If we want to save the humanity, then we must ask the states who provide shelter and funding to the terrorist, to dismantle the infrastructures of terrorist camp and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisation based in their country.”

“At the same time, I would like to say that this menace cannot be fought only through military, intelligence or diplomatic means. It is also a battle that must be won through the strength of our values, and the real message of religions,” she added.

Swaraj’s call for building pressure on the countries that support terrorist groups to dismantle terror infrastructure on their soil and stop funding such outfits came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi boycotted the meet over the invitation extended to Swaraj, as India is not a member of the OIC.

Swaraj was the first Indian minister to address a meeting of OIC, the influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, ever since its inception 50 years ago.

She was invited by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the “Guest of Honour” to address the Inaugural Plenary. India accepted the invitation as a “welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world.”

The minister said that Indian Muslims are a microcosm of the diversity of India and they have rejected extremism.

“They practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brethren. It is this appreciation of diversity and co-existence that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies,” she said.

She also stressed that terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion.

Swaraj said that the organisation is making a new beginning at 50. “The choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity. The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and prosperity, and to make this planet a better place, not just for your people, but for rest of the world.”