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ndonesian scholars shared the country’s experiences on tolerance among different religions during a visit to Russia and Finland.

Leading Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra discussed Indonesia’s perspective on managing pluralism in a public lecture at the University of Helsinki on Tuesday.

He highlighted its five-pillar ideology, Pancasila, as a “religious friendly” basis of the Indonesian state.

“With Pancasila as its basis, Indonesia is not a confessional state, nor a secular one,” he stated in his presentation, which was provided by the Foreign Ministry to The Jakarta Post.

“Religious is part and parcel of public life.”

Pancasila, he said, was also the “politics of the recognition of multiculturalism”, which was emphasized in the country’s motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).

Also speaking at the public lecture was President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s adviser on international issues, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, who said religious harmony could only be achieved through wasatiyyat ad diniyah (religious moderation), which respected diversity and was tolerant to differences.

“Indonesia, Russia and Finland are relatively capable of managing multicultural and pluralism, which could be the model for the world in promoting tolerance and healthy freedom of expression,” she told the Post via WhatsApp from Helsinki.

Other delegates included the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) secretary-general Rev. Gomar Gultom, the Association of Indonesian Buddhists Congregations (Permabudhi) chairman Philip K. Widjaja, news portal IDN Times editor-in-chief Zulfiani Lubis and the ministry’s public diplomacy director Azis Nurwahyudi.

The delegation also visited Russia for the 2nd Indonesia-Russia Interfaith and Intermedia Dialogue, which was first held in 2009.

The dialogue was revived in March when Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi met her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow.

“While the interfaith dialogue in Moscow was the second, the Helsinki event was the first,” the ministry’s director general for information and public diplomacy, Cecep Herawan, said on Tuesday.

Cecep, who joined the Moscow dialogue, said both countries pledged to provide scholarships to each other’s youths in an attempt to promote tolerance.

The foreign and religious affairs ministries, he said, were teaming up to provide scholarships to five Russian youths who would study at Indonesia’s Islamic universities next year.

The government would also invite some Russian students to join an Indonesia-initiated interfaith youth camp, he added.