REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono explained about pluralism in Indonesia in a general lecture before cadets of the US Military Academy during a visit to the US on Monday.
On the occasion he also extended a message from Indonesian cadets to US cadets and instructors in which they expressed readiness to build friendship with their counterparts in the US.
"We also have strong desires to build harmonious relationship between civilizations and religions to make the world more peaceful and secure," he said quoting the message from cadets in the Indonesian Military Academy in Magelang in Central Java.
He said "the message came from cadets from various backgrounds represented by Major Sergeant Angger Panduyuda and Kodrat Adiaji who are all Moslem and Robert Willem, a Christian, Protasius Widianto. a Catholic and I Gede Bagus a Hindu.
"Like you all, they love their country," he said.
President Yudhoyono said that Indonesia was the third biggest democracy in the world after India and the US. More than 130 citizens voted in the recent presidential election.
"We have now also become the new economic power and also a member of the G20 group like the Us," he said.
He was welcomed by Lt. Gen. Robert L Calsen Jr upon arrival. During the visit he received a military salute from West Point honorary cadets carrying the US and Indonesian flags.
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