US Vice President Mike Pence visited the most important mosque in Southeast Asia on Thursday during his visit to Indonesia, calling the Muslim-majority country’s tradition of practicing a moderate type of Islam “an inspiration to the world.”
Pence, an evangelical Christian, tried to make use of his trip to melt a number of the rougher edges of rhetoric in regards to the Muslim world utilized by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has often complained about “radical Islamic terrorism.”
As leader of the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has raised concerns about Trump’s immigration policies, which critics say are biased against Muslims.
Pence, standing shoulder to shoulder with Widodo on the news conference, said: “One of the best threats we face is the rise and spread of terrorism,” although he didn’t consult with “radical Islam.”
“Frankly speaking, Indonesia’s tradition of moderate Islam, as the largest Muslim-majority country, is an inspiration to the world,” he said.
“In your nation, as in mine, religion unites, not divides,” he added.
Pence, accompanied by his wife and daughters, later took a tour of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, posing for photos within the vast, empty courtyard and walking through the five-story prayer hall, large enough to accommodate 200,000 people.
He then met with religious leaders of assorted denominations, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others.
Indonesia is officially secular and most of its 220 million Muslims practice a moderate type of Islam, although some distinct Islamist groups operate within the country and have suffered attacks by militants prior to now.
After meeting with President Widodo, Pence said his administration wants fairer trade with Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Indonesia is one among 16 countries analyzed for a trade surplus with the United States.
Official data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade show that total trade between the 2 countries in 2016 was $23.44 billion, with Indonesia recording a surplus of $8.84 billion. Indonesia mainly exports textiles, footwear and seafood, and imports mainly aircraft, machinery and soybeans from America.
During a visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) headquarters in Jakarta, Pence confirmed that President Trump will attend three regional summits in November: the U.S.-ASEAN-East Asia Summit within the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. in Vietnam.
He said the Trump administration would cooperate with ASEAN on security, trade and freedom of navigation issues within the South China Sea. Beijing claims many of the South China Sea, but its claims overlap with many Southeast Asian countries.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
Pence arrived in Jakarta late within the evening from Japan, where he assured Tokyo of the United States’ commitment to reining in North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions.
Washington hailed Pence’s visit to Jakarta as a lift to a strategic partnership between the world’s second- and third-largest democracies, but a series of bilateral disputes with U.S. firms could dampen the goodwill of his trip.
Indonesia has grappled with mining giant Freeport McMoRan over the past six months, demanding the corporate divest its 51 percent stake in a gold and copper mine in Papua and demanding that Google Inc. settled unpaid taxes and penalties in the quantity of over $400 million. Jakarta also removed JP Morgan from its list of primary bond dealers after what was seen as a negative research report.
Google declined to comment on this report, and JPMorgan didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Freeport Indonesia spokeswoman Riza Pratama said: “This visit is going down completely independently of our current negotiations with the Indonesian government.”
Widodo’s foreign policy approach was driven more by economic interests than by geopolitical considerations: He sought increased trade and investment from China but maintained a diplomatic distance from Beijing and established a strategic partnership with Washington under former President Barack Obama.
Widodo said at a joint news conference with Pence that the 2 countries will “increase their strategic partnership… that can concentrate on cooperation and investment.”
He said the 2 sides would form a team inside the subsequent month to debate “the management of bilateral trade and investment transactions based on the principle of a win-win solution.”
REUTERS
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
