Discussion among Islamic intellectuals provides good platform in Malaysia-Indonesia relations — Muhyiddin
Posted on February 13, 2013, Wednesday
JAKARTA: Discussion among intellectuals, politicians, senior government officers and leaders of Islamic organisations in Malaysia and Indonesia provides a good platform to place moderation as an important principle in bilateral ties between the two countries.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this being that the role of maintaining peace, stability and unison between the two countries should not be shouldered by the government alone, but also individuals and the society.
“I hope through such a discussion, a better understanding and cooperation can be formed at the individual level and leaders of non-governmental organisations in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Where there is understanding and cooperation at this level, I believe the efforts by both countries to continue to maintain a harmonious and friendly relations can be achieved,” he said when addressing the Global Movement of Moderates roundtable forum here, yesterday.
The forum, organised by the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF), involved the participation of academicians, politicians, senior government officers and Islamic organisations from Malaysian and Indonesia.
The organisations from Indonesia included the Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
The roundtable was in tandem with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s aspiration in setting up GMM as a movement to promote moderation.
Muhyiddin said the movement of moderates was the most appropriate approach to contain threats of extremism.
Najib, when opening the Internal Conference of GMM in Kuala Lumpur last year, said that the real line of divide was not between Muslims and non-Muslims, or between the developed and developing countries, but between moderates and extremists.
The deputy prime minister hoped that GMMF and Muhammadiyyah could continue to hold a dialogue on moderation, as well as to establish a cooperation to strengthen relations between the two countries.
During a dialogue at the forum, Muhyiddin announced a RM5 million allocation to carry out programmes, involving Malaysian and Indonesian youths, through the GMMF-Muhammadiyah cooperation to further enhance relations between Malaysians and Indonesians. — Bernama