Today, Vice President Mike Pence participated in an interfaith dialogue with faith leaders of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Confucianism at the conclusion of his tour of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. Vice President Pence expressed appreciation to Indonesia for its shared commitment to religious freedom and reaffirmed that the United States will continue to defend this fundamental freedom, at home and abroad.

The list of dialogue participants was as follows:

Muhammad Muzammil Basyuni – Head of Istiqlal, Mosque Management Body

Dr. Nasarudin Umar – Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque

Dr. Bahrul Hayat – Vice Chairman of the Executive Board, the Istiqlal Mosque

Rev. Dr. Henriette-Lebang – General Chairperson, Communion of Churches in Indonesia (CCI/PGI)

KS Arsana – Chairman for International Affairs, Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI)

Dr. Uung Sendana L. Linggaraja – General Chairman of Supreme Council of Confucian, Religion in Indonesia (MATAKIN)

Ignatius Suharyo – Catholic Archbishop of Jakarta

Prof. Dr. Philip Wijaya – Former Secretary General, Indonesian Buddhists Association (Walubi)

Dr. Abdul Mu’ti – Secretary General, Muhammadiyah

Dr. Bahtiar Effendy – Chair of Muhammadiyah

Yahya Cholil Staquf – Secretary General, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)

Dr. Marsudi Syuhud – Chair of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)

Dr. Din Syamsuddin – Chairman of Advisory Board of the MUI

Yenny Wahid, Moderator – Director, The Wahid Institute

Diana Muzammil – Member of the Betawi Cultural Development Forum

Nasihin Hasan – Head of Research and Development, Indonesian Society for Organization of Islamic Cooperation (ISOIC)

Bunyan Saptomo – Secretary General of the Indonesian Society for Organization of Islamic Cooperation (ISOIC)

We arrived late Wednesday in the capital city of Jakarta, Indonesia to continue our visit in the Asia-Pacific region. I am the first member of President Donald Trump’s administration to visit Southeast Asia, and the President asked for me to be here as a sign of the high value that the United States places on our strategic partnership with Indonesia.

I began Thursday morning meeting with the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. He and I discussed how, under President Trump, the United States and Indonesia will work even more closely together for the mutual benefit of our nations, our people, and for the benefit of Southeast Asia as a whole.

American companies have been doing business in Indonesia for years, and American products and services have contributed greatly to Indonesia’s economic development. But we still have room for significant progress. Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States seeks trade relationships that are both free and fair – that spur job creation and economic growth for both parties. The President and I look forward to working with President Widodo to make progress toward this objective.

Later, my team and I met with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Cabinet Ministers. I reaffirmed the United States’ strong, enduring commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and the Strategic Partnership with Indonesia. Vice President Kalla and I agreed to strengthen cooperation across a range of bilateral and regional issues, including bilateral trade and investment.

 After my meeting with Vice President Kalla and Cabinet Ministers, I was humbled to tour the Istiqlal Mosque. Holding 200,000 people, it’s the largest Mosque in the largest Muslim-majority country in the world.

I was also deeply honored to meet with interfaith leaders of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Confucianism at the conclusion of my tour to highlight Indonesia’s commitment to religious pluralism, tolerance, and freedom.

The day continued with a productive meeting with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). The future of Southeast Asia looks bright thanks to great programs like YSEALI that help prepare future business and civic leaders.

And finally, I concluded the evening with ASEAN leaders and informed them that President Trump will attend a summit with them in the Philippines in November. The President will also attend the East Asia Summit that same month.

You can get the latest updates from my visit to the Asia-Pacific region by following the hashtag #VPinASIA, @VPComDir, and @VPPressSec on social media. There is an album on my Facebook page with photos from the trip. Each morning, you can also read a recap of the previous day here on wh.gov.

SOURCE:  Vice President MIKE PENCE