UNITED NATIONS - World travel and live satellite television have fed cultural and religious tensions and alienation among nations, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a U.N. conference on Thursday.

"Today, there is an urgent need to address this worrying trend," Ban said, opening a two-day meeting at the U.N. General Assembly on interreligious and intercultural understanding.

The U.N. chief said that during his travels he had found that people suffered from similar prejudices.

"They all fear that which is different from them: the other ethnicity, the other skin color, the other cultural or linguistic tradition and, above all, the other religion," he said.

"And yet, in today's era of global travel and instant satellite transmissions, people everywhere are encountering less of the familiar, and more of 'the other.'

"This reality has fed rising intercultural and interreligious tensions, as well as growing alienation among vast segments of the world's population."

Ban called for a "constructive and committed dialogue" between individuals, communities and nations to promote the idea that "diversity is a virtue, not a threat."

Government ministers and senior diplomats from nearly 70 countries were slated to speak at the conference, whose main organizers are mainly Christian Philippines and predominantly Muslim Pakistan.