Pope Francis calls for interreligious dialogue during Indonesia visit

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for increased interfaith dialogue during his visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

The 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church stressed the need to "foster a peaceful and fruitful harmony" and increase interreligious dialogue to address "imbalances and suffering," at a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta.

"In this way, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow", Pope Francis said.

He said that both Christianity and Islam must unite in the fight against "extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence."

Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday, kicking off the longest foreign trip of his tenure so far, due to take him to four countries in South-East Asia and Oceania over the next 12 days.

With more than 240 million Muslims, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world.

On Thursday, he is scheduled to visit the nearby Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in South-East Asia. On Friday, he will continue his journey to Papua New Guinea.

Further stops will be East Timor and Singapore.