Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 (IANS): A Hindu priest said here at an event that "tolerance is the soul" of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and that an upcoming temple in the city represented unique diversity and fraternity.

"A foreign journalist once asked me whether tolerance in the UAE was only cosmetic? Not at all. It is not skin deep, tolerance is the soul of the UAE," Sadhu Brahma Viharidas, who is in charge of the Middle East at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha that will build and manage the temple, said at the event on Sunday.

He was addressing the opening session of the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at Emirates Palace, reports Gulf News.

Viharidas said the UAE is an unique example of tolerance.

"Tolerance and human fraternity is not just a beautiful word or meaningful idea or value here. In the UAE, they are verbs and not nouns. Verbs means they are in action. We can write poetry and hold conferences but unless they are in action ... They are meaningless."

He also shared his experiences of meeting UAE King Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who donated the land for the temple.