As a nation of diverse religions and cultures, Indonesia has made interfaith dialogue an important element of its diplomacy, a communication method best realized through collaboration with non-state actors, including the media, a minister said on Tuesday.

Delivering a keynote address at a journalism conference in Serpong, Banten, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi highlighted some of the interfaith dialogues she had been engaged in over the course of her diplomatic duties.

A meeting with Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month over violence against minorities in the country’s Rakhine state was one example of the dialogues Retno described as a “humanitarian and interfaith dialogue.”

“The situation in Rakhine is worrying. So we proposed a dialogue with Myanmar regarding Rakhine,” Retno said. “Pursuing cooperation through interfaith dialogue is part of the DNA of Indonesia’s diplomacy.”

In her meeting with Suu Kyi, Retno broached several topics, including the restoration of peace and security in Rakhine, providing protection for all people regardless their religion or ethnicity, implementing the principle of the non use of force and the recommendations proposed by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine.

Kofi Annan, a former United Nations secretary general who chaired the commission, handed over the recommendations to Myanmar in September that included calls to open access for Rohingya people to education and health services as well as to improve access for humanitarian workers and the media to the troubled state.

The main reason Indonesia has pursued interfaith dialogues as part of its diplomacy is because it is a religiously and culturally diverse nation.

“For a diverse country like Indonesia, harmony is a must, otherwise it cannot survive,” Retno said.

The violence in Myanmar between the Rohingnya ethnic minority and the country’s military, which has uprooted thousands of people from their homes, has prompted widespread outcry in Indonesia, with some Muslims groups calling on the government to intervene.

Beliefs that the conflict is of a religious nature have emerged in Indonesia although authorities have explained that this is not the case, raising concerns the issue might be used to provoke tensions in the country with the largest Muslim population.

The media, therefore, Retno said, played an important role to provide accurate information and correct false assumptions that might lead to tensions and incorrect beliefs, such as that Islam was not compatible with democracy.

“In particular, the mistaken assumptions that associate Islam with violence and terrorism,” she added.

Danish Ambassador to Indonesia, Rasmus Abildgaard Kistensen, another speaker at Tuesday’s event, said the media could help shape a better understanding of religious tolerance. Fair media reporting was an important part of interfaith dialogues, especially amid the rise of social media that often challenged the role of mainstream media outlets, he said. Journalists could “learn a lot from scholars” to gain different views on religion, the ambassador added.

Adopting the theme “Reporting Religion in Asia,” the three-day conference brought together religion journalists from across Asia and beyond to share their stories and experiences covering religion. The conference was co-sponsored by the Danish Embassy in Indonesia, the United States-based International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ), the Asia Foundation and the Tifa Foundation.

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