Washington, July 02: Reflecting the changing face of the United States under Obama Administration, India-born Muslim American Farah Pandith today vowed to engage the Muslim world through dialogue and diplomacy so as to improve America’s image and its relationship with them.
The Special US Representative to Muslim World, Pandith has been appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to push further the Obama Administration’s agenda to improve America’s image among Muslims, which has reached a historic low mainly because of the two wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – by the Bush Administration.
“What we want to do is build dialogue, not because we think there is a misperception. It is to offer an opportunity through different types of mechanisms to have a dialogue,” Pandith told the State Department press corps at her maiden press conference in this position.
Earlier, Pandith was occupying a State Department position to build ties with Muslims in Europe. Impressed by her performance, Clinton appointed her Special Representatives to Muslim world – a new position carved out in the State Department, which diplomats say is a historic position.
“The opportunity to engage in dialogue means that you are opening up an opportunity for conversation on a wide range of issues, and that may be one of the issues,” she said.
“This new role is a historic role, and it is the secretary’s vision for engagement through our embassies overseas. I had the opportunity to brief her at the end of January on the work we had done in Europe. In that briefing, she completely got it. She understood the need for our country to build relationships with Muslims overseas,” Pandith said.
“What I am doing is working with embassies to find ways that we can approach a younger generation as well, in terms of listening to how they want to engage,” she said.
Responding to a question, Pandith said, she would never say that Muslims are saying one thing, that there is one misunderstanding as there are so many different perspectives.
“There are some misperceptions about our nation and there are some folks who have a misperception of history or a misperception, in fact, of young people in America,” she said.
“Listening means that you just don’t take a one-stop shop and say I’m going to do it everywhere,” she said.
“It is really, really taking the time to listen to what is taking place on the ground so that you understand even within cities what the differences are, even within generations and within ethnicities, so that you are beginning to build dialogue in different ways and not just use one-phase approach to everything,” Pandith said.
–Agencies