Timor Leste Eyes Collaboration with Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah

TheIndonesia.co - The president of Timor Leste Jose Ramos-Horta visited the headquarters of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah in Jakarta to strengthen relations with the Islamic organizations and to discuss potential collaboration in various sectors.

In his meeting with NU leader Yahya Cholil Staquf, President Ramos-Horta proposed collaboration in religious and humanity sectors in his country.

“[The President] welcomes the idea, and he has prepared a special organization for collaboration to hold religious and humanity-centered activities in Timor Leste,” Staquf said on Wednesday, July 20, as reported by Antara.

Ramos-Horta also invited NU’s board of leaders to visit Timor Leste to further discuss the collaboration plan.

Afterwards, the Timor-Leste leader visited the headquarters of Muhammadiyah where he met the organization’s general chairperson Haedar Nashir. Similarly, they discussed potential partnership in various sectors, including education.

“Hopefully, in the future we can open a branch or partner organization in Timor Leste, [such as] an educational institution,” Nashir said after the meeting.

He continued that Muhammadiyah and the Timor Leste leader share the same vision to create global peace and humanity, and it’s expected to be the foundation of a continuous collaboration.

Ramos-Horta also expressed similar sentiment and said Timor Leste is looking forward to partner with Muhammadiyah and NU.

“It’s a pleasure for us to visit Muhammadiyah and to explore future collaboration as well as [understanding] how Muhammadiyah, NU, Indonesia, and Timor Leste can work together,” he stated.