The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said thattolerance and co-existence are basic tenets of our civilization.He was replying to written questions fromAl Ghad, an Arabic daily of Jordan on the eve of his visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel from October 10 to 15, 2015.

The President said "I have noted the speech made by His Majesty King Abdullah in the UN General Assembly on September 29 this year in which he has proposed seven steps to promote values of tolerance and co-existence in the face of extremism. Tolerance and co-existence are basic tenets of our civilization. We hold them very dear to our hearts. Our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru propounded the five principles of peaceful co-existence amongst nations. I agree with His Majesty King Abdullah that the world is confronted with a third world war to which we must respond with equal intensity. I also agree that we must go back to the essence of our respective faiths and creeds. Hate speech and fear mongering should come to an end. Our values should become part of our daily life. We must amplify the voice of moderation. We should not permit religion to be used as a mask to satisfy hunger for power and control of some individuals. I completely agree that leaders of every country, every belief, every neighborhood need to take a clear and public stand against intolerance of any kind, as called for by His Majesty”.

This release issued at 1800 hrs.