External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to come together to fight the global menace of terrorism and extremism.

Swaraj said the war against terrorism cannot be fought only through military and diplomatic means. She urged everyone to direct the states providing shelter and funding to terrorists to dismantle terror camps and to stop financing such outfits.

Swaraj’s Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi skipped the OIC meeting in protest against the group’s decision to invite her. Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense since a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, and India has accused its neighbour of protecting terrorist groups.

Swaraj did not name Pakistan in her address.

“Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes,” Swaraj said during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the OIC in the United Arab Emirates. “But, in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed.”

“Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence,” she said. “Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood.”

Swaraj was invited as the “guest of honour” at the inaugural plenary of the foreign ministers’ conclave of the OIC in Abu Dhabi on March 1 and March 2. The OIC, founded in 1969, consists of 57 member states, with 40 countries being Muslim-majority countries.

Swaraj said the fight against terrorism was not meant to confront any particular religion. “This is not a clash of civilisations or cultures, but a contest of ideas and ideals,” she said. “As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often said, it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity.”

Swaraj said the OIC has a huge responsibility to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and promised to work with the group to “promote respect between states”.

India’s engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tensions with Pakistan. The ties further deteriorated after Indian fighter jets carried out cross-border strikes against Jaish-e-Mohammed’s training camp near Balakot early on Tuesday. A day later, Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he had written two letters to the UAE urging it to withdraw its invitation to Swaraj.