UNITED NATIONS: India has said it stands united with the UN members in condemning incidents of religious intolerance against Muslims, as it underlined the need to recognise that religious discrimination is a broader challenge affecting followers of all faiths.
“India is a land of diversity and pluralism. We are home to followers of virtually every major religion in the world and India has been the birthplace of four world religions namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. With over 200 million of its citizens practising Islam, India is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador P Harish said on Friday.
Addressing the informal meeting of the plenary in the UN General Assembly to commemorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, Harish said that fostering a world free from religious discrimination, hatred and violence has been a way of life for India since time immemorial. PTI