New York: India renews its commitment to the human fraternity by promoting pluralism, cultural diversity and advancing dialogue and understanding between regions, cultures and civilisations for fostering a genuine culture of peace, said India's Permanent Representative to the UN T S Tirumurti on the occasion of the International Day of Human Fraternity on Friday (local time).

"As a resolution to commemorate, the International Day of the Human Fraternity reaffirms that we need to commit ourselves to pluralistic traditions," said Tirumurti during the high-level virtual event commemorating the International Day of the Human Fraternity.

"Pluralism is the protective sheet in which the human fraternity blossoms. This is in line with our own belief that the world is one family, Vasidhaiv Kutumbkam," he added.

Expressing his gratitude to the UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) for organising the event, Tirumurti said, "We would like to convey our sincere appreciation to the UAE and Egypt for successfully piloting this resolution which proclaims February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity."

"India was happy to co-sponsor this resolution last year. On this day, we renew our commitment to the human fraternity by promoting pluralism, cultural diversity and advancing dialogue and understanding between regions, cultures and civilisations for fostering a genuine culture of peace," he added.

Stating that this date marks the meeting in Abu Dhabi between the heads of the two major religions of the world, Tirumurti said, "This meeting not only underlines the importance of the deepening the understanding between these two Abrahamic religions but in fact between all regions and faiths as well."

"Spirit of human fraternity also enjoins us to combat hate and violence, not just against Abrahamic religions but combat hate and violence against all religions including Sikhism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The shattering of the iconic Bamyan Buddhas to name one tragic event stands as testimony to what hate against other religions can do," he added.

Further, Tirumurti said, "International days are the days that should seek to bring all of us together as one family and we celebrated in an inclusive manner. They should not seek to divide us."