Hyderabad: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on yesterday praised India's cultural diversity, saying multiple faiths and schools of thought co-exist peacefully in the country.

Addressing at a meeting with Muslim intellectuals, scholars and clerics in Hyderabad on yesterday night, Rouhani, who arrived in Hyderabad on a three-day India visit, told Islam is not a religion of violence, but one of moderation.

Iran wants unity, independence and support for the East. Iran wants fraternity with India. We do not want to have any differences with other countries as well stated Rouhani who is on his first India visit since assuming charge as president in 2013.

The Iranian president also admired India's culture and traditions and said the country was a "living museum" of religions and schools of thought. We see a lot of temples, other places of worship, and they are living in peace. They are having peaceful co-existence, he said.
Muslims, non-Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs are coexisting in peace in India, he said.

Earlier, he arrived in Hyderabad on a special flight from Tehran and was received by Union Minister of State for Power RK Singh and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan along with senior officials of Telanaga government.