Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News) - The United Nations has expressed appreciation to Indonesias efforts in handling radicalism through not only law enforcement but also religious approaches.

"They have given an appreciation because we do not only use one method but also law enforcement as well as religious and cultural approaches," Indonesian president Joko Widodo said after meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center here on Sunday.

President Joko Widodo said he had discussed various issues including on forest fires and refugees with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"We also discussed terrorism and sustainable development," he said.

President Joko Widodo said the UN appreciated Indonesia in its handling of terrorism and radicalism.

With regard to forest fires the President said that he had explained that Indonesia had already taken all efforts including the deployment of planes to carry out water bombing to fight the fires.

"We have explained all efforts that we have taken including the involvement of up to 30,000 personnel in the operations. What happened were not only forest fires but also peatland fires," he said.

President Joko Widodo said Indonesia had proposed that the UN would also invite religious figures and clerics to the UN meeting on terrorism to speak about the issue from a religious point of view.

"We must not always use a security approach or a military approach as it will not settle the problem," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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