New Delhi:
China’s state run media published an article in Global Times which appreciated how Hinduism has been a major reason in preventing spread of radical Islam in India.
"Why does it seem that Muslims in India have remained largely apart from the radicalization that has happened to Muslim groups in other parts of the world?" the article raises the question, citing the Islamist unrest in other parts of Asia: "Indian Muslims seldom have extreme organizations compared with groups in many other Asian countries.
In the southern part of the Philippines, extremists backed by Islamic State have turned their occupied cities into horrible places. In southern Thailand, terror attacks staged by Muslim extremists take place almost every week."
The article attributes the absence of radical Islam in India to Hinduism. It says India breaks the 'arc of Islam' in Asia: "In Asia as a whole, Islam forms an arc that includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand, southern Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Central Asian countries. There are tensions at various degrees at junctions in this arc where it encounters other religions and ethnicity, but a dent exists in the Indian portion of this arc."
It is to be emphasised that PM Modi is scheduled to visit China for BRICS Summit in the first week of September and China’s appreciation of Hinduism can be seen in the context of appeasing India after Doklam conflict.
