Arab News | Dialogue key to peace, stability, coexistence, says Saudi minister

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its commitment to dialogue and coexistence among faiths and civilizations at a high-level UN meeting in New York, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir stressing their role in promoting peace and stability.

Al-Jubeir delivered the Kingdom’s address at a meeting of the UN Alliance of Civilizations Group of Friends, held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

He commended the alliance’s role in advancing mutual understanding, countering hate speech, and protecting religious sites and cultural heritage.

Al-Jubeir said the Kingdom supported these efforts based on its conviction that dialogue, coexistence, respect for religions and cultural diversity were essential to maintaining security and stability.

He highlighted the 11th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh in December 2025 with broad international participation, as an important platform to assess the alliance’s achievements two decades after its founding.

He stressed the importance of following up on the forum’s final declaration by renewing shared commitments to multilateral action, international law and sustained dialogue across diverse faiths and cultures.

Al-Jubeir said dialogue remained an effective tool for safeguarding diversity, preventing conflict, fostering tolerance, building cohesive societies and advancing peace.

He reaffirmed the Kingdom’s support for the alliance’s efforts and pledged continued cooperation with member states and partners to promote a culture of peace, tolerance, coexistence and mutual respect.

On the sidelines of the UN session, Al-Jubeir also participated in a ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and India. The meeting reviewed areas of cooperation and coordination and ways to enhance them in a wayr that serves their shared interests.

Al-Jubeir, who is also the Kingdom’s climate envoy and commissioner general of Expo 2030 Riyadh, held separate meetings with Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Valdrack Ludwing Jaentschke Whitaker, Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano, and EU Special Representative for the Gulf region, Luigi Di Maio.

The meetings reviewed bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen them, as well as regional developments and efforts to address them.