By IANS
Patna : In a bid to reach out to the large Muslim population in South Asia, the American embassy in India will hold a conference of Interfaith Coalition for Peace in New Delhi January next year.
“We plan to organise a conference of Interfaith Coalition for Peace at India Islamic Centre in New Delhi January 2008. Religious scholars from the US, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would attend the programme,” Adnan A. Siddiqi, counsellor for cultural affairs at the US embassy in New Delhi, said here.
“This is going to be a conference on building peace when religion is being used to justify terror,” Siddiqi told IANS here.
Siddiqi was in the state capital for a symposium on Islam and Urdu, organised by Patna-based Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library Thursday.
He admitted that a conference of Interfaith Coalition for Peace is a part of the dialogue to strengthen the peace process.
“It is a step to build bridges with the Muslim population and Muslim world and to promote dialogue to minimise misunderstanding,” he said.
He said there was a great respect for Islam in the US. “American people do not want the war on terror to affect their relations with the Muslim world,” he said.
Islam is the fastest growing faith in the US, he added.
“We care about dialogue with the Muslims. Americans and the Muslim community need to engage in a dialogue to understand each other,” Siddiqi said.