Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and Britain have agreed to establish a joint forum to reduce misunderstandings between the West and Islam and seek peaceful solutions to possible areas of conflict.

The idea for the proposed Indonesia-United Kingdom Islamic Advisory Group was announced during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit Thursday.

The prime minister, who arrived here Wednesday night, is the first British premier to visit Indonesia since Margaret Thatcher in 1985.

Blair said a close British relationship with Indonesia was of fundamental importance because the country was the world's most-populous Muslim nation.

"One of the things that is very important is that we know in ... the West what Islam is about and what people who are Muslims want to achieve in their lives. The problem is, that the West and Islam often walk and talk past each other, rather than to each other," he said.

Blair said he would closely work with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ensure the forum would be effective.

Yudhoyono said the exchange would help build a peaceful prosperous future for the West and Islam.

Indonesian Ambassador to Britain Marty Natalegawa said the foreign ministries of the two countries would take immediate steps to set up the forum, the members of which would likely include Indonesian Muslim scholars who took part in an earlier discussion Thursday with Blair and Yudhoyono.

Blair said he was confident the forum would facilitate interfaith dialog and would bring about greater understanding between the governments and peoples of different faiths in the two countries.

"Hopefully it will send a signal, and be a symbol to the outside world about how we believe that a future based on tolerance and respect for others will allow the world to make progress," Blair said after addressing the meeting with "Assalamualaikum" (peace be with you).

Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim group, said important ideas came from Blair's discussion with Islamic clerics.

"Muslims are perceived to be full of hate against the West, while on the other side, Muslims perceive the West is building up the idea that Islam is a violent religion that resorts to terrorism. These are the kind of misconceptions that must be resolved in further dialog," Din said.

Indonesia could use the exchange to help soften the image of Islam in the West, he said.

"The forum should also include civil society advocates and should have some powers -- rather than only act in an advisory role -- in the people-to-people relationship," he said.

Din said Britain could end up serving as a role model for other Western countries in how it engaged with Islam.