TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin drew attention to the threat posed by radicalism and Islamophobia that can spur sectarian conflict in a country for which the government has incessantly promoted social harmony among people.

"There should be no radicalism in Islam, nor Islamophobia akin to those in Western countries. These have the potential to spark conflict," Amin noted on the sidelines of the 3rd International Islamic Healthcare Conference and Expo (IHEX) 2020 here on Saturday.

Indonesia has initiated an international meeting of religion leaders aimed at enhancing inter-religious harmony both in the country and abroad, the vice president stated.

"Indonesia is keen to establish global inter-religious harmony. Hence, we want to hold this meeting of world religious leaders," he remarked.

Amin expressed concern over the sectarian violence in India and was optimistic that the incident would be avoided in other countries.

"We are concerned about this situation. What happened in India has saddened all of us," he emphasized.

At least 38 people died, while over 200 others got injured in the violence against Muslims in New Delhi since Sunday.

The violence erupted over a citizenship law that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government had introduced in December providing a path to Indian citizenship for six religious groups from neighboring countries but not Muslims.

ANTARA