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Jokowi calls for unity
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo arrive in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 20. (Presidential Office/File)
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s Saudi Arabia works to use the historic Arab Islamic American Summit on combating global terrorism in Riyadh to garner support for its efforts to contain the influence of Iran in the Middle East, Indonesia is proving itself a neutral party in global efforts to promote peace and stability by moving to distance itself from Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical ambitions expressed in the forum.
The summit is an initiative from King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. The summit gathers 55 Muslim-majority countries to make use of the historic visit of United States President Donald Trump in an apparent move by the conservative Saudis to develop their country’s image as a global campaigner for moderate Islam.
Saudi Arabia excluded Iran from the summit despite the fact that Iran is also a Muslim-majority nation.
The participation of Indonesia in the Saudi cause is vital for the Gulf kingdom because Indonesia has the world’s largest population of Muslims, around 200 million, among the invited countries.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo refused to address Iran in his speech and instead called on all Muslim-majority countries, as well as the US to prioritize the use of soft approaches in combating terrorism.
Jokowi warned that while they were important, weapons and military force alone would not be able to overcome terrorism and extremism.
“Violence will create violence. Unity will create ukhwa Islamiya, or Islamic brotherhood,” he said.
