Bali (Indonesia)

As India takes over the mantle for the next G20 Religion Forum (R20) in the year 2023 from Indonesia, National Executive Member of RSS and former General Secretary of BJP, Ram Madhav, said there couldn't be a better country than India to take this forward.

He also hailed Bali which hosted the first-ever R20 summit as a place of religious harmony.

During his address here at the concluding ceremony of R20, he called India as a 'mosaic of religions' and 'the mothership of spirituality', adding that there couldn't have been a better country to take this forward.

"Bali is a unique and perfect blend of religious harmony. There could not have been a better place to start this journey. And there couldn't have been a better country than India - a mosaic of religions and the mothership of spirituality - to take it forward next year." He said, "India is home to all the world religions. 180 million Muslims live in India making it the second or third country with the largest Muslim population.

Far from the propaganda about persecution, India has always sheltered the persecuted and made Muslim leaders President, Vice President and Chief Justice of India. They adorn many other important positions in India's public life, something we don't witness in many other countries with their minorities", he said.

He stressed the challenges faced by humanity which pose a serious threat to mankind. "Not just the traditional challenges of hatred, disharmony, terror and war, but also the new-age challenges like climate change, healthcare crises, overpowering technologies and woke social ideologies are posing a serious threat to mankind in the 21st century."

The former BJP General Secretary said, "In the course of its evolution over millennia, humankind has surmounted many such upheavals. Every time it faced a crisis, a new transformative leadership of philosophers has come forward to guide it through history. Harsh religious orthodoxies were tackled, and so were obnoxious political ideologies. But, unfortunately, in the 21st century, when mankind is faced with one of the direst challenges to its existence, there are no philosophers in sight. Religions are busy quarrelling with each other while politicians, technocrats and professionals became the new popes and power, economy and technology became demigods", he said.

Indonesia on Thursday officially handed over the Presidency for the G20 Religion Forum to India which New Delhi will host in 2023.

 "The R-20 is here to address that need. Collectively, we all have to guide mankind in noble human values. At stake are divine values like Satya - truth, Ahimsa - non-violence, Suchita - internal and external cleanliness and Tyaga - sacrifice. These values are universal, so are compassion, care and service. It is just the opposite values that some in religion and politics promote today. But this congregation should lead the way in bringing peace, stability and progress to humanity" Ram Madhav added.

R20 is part of a series of G20 events initiated under Indonesia's G20 Presidency.