By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Southeast Asia can play a vital role in bridging the gap and settling the worrisome misunderstandings between the West and Muslim world, the Jakarta Post daily on Thursday quoted the Secretary-General of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan as saying.
“I am confident that the road to reconciliation between the West and the Muslim world runs through Southeast Asia,” Surin told audience during the third International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS).
He was specifically referring to a statement by former Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who shared a table with him during the session, that “the increasing radicalism and violence among (elements) in the Muslim world is a result of poor relations between the West and Islam”.
Surin called on Indonesia, whose population accounts for about half of ASEAN’s 467 million people and represents the largest body of Muslims in the world, to take the lead in bridging the West-Islam gap.