Bangladesh and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

ARF, established in 1994 to promote cooperation and exchange of opinions on political and security affairs in
the Asia Pacific region, has played instrumental role in preserving and furthering mutual trust, confidence and
regional peace and stability in the region. Keeping in view the objectives of ARF and the criteria for
participation, Bangladesh first expressed her interest to join the Forum in as early as 1998. Bangladesh became
a member of the ARF in 2006. Since then, Bangladesh has been playing an active role in ARF and participating
in various meetings and programmes of the ARF.

02. Hon. Foreign Minister attended the 22nd ARF Meeting in Malaysia on 6 August 2015, the 23rd ARF
Meeting in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 26 July 2016, the 24th ARF Meeting in Manila on 7-8 August 2017 and the
25th ARF Meeting in Singapore on 4 August 2018.

03. Bangladesh at the 23rd Meeting of the ARF: Hon. Foreign Minister exchanged opinions with
ASEAN leaders with a vision to transform Bangladesh into a hub for regional cooperation. He also presented his
views to the Forum on creating regional security sphere, combating terrorism, and enhancing communications
in trade and commerce activities.

04. Bangladesh at the 24th Meeting of the ARF: With the theme ‘Partnering for Change, Engaging the
World’, one of the significant aspects of the 24th ARF was celebrating the 50th anniversary of ASEAN. In the
sidelines, Hon. Foreign Minister held meetings with Foreign Ministers of the Philippines, China, Russia, Indonesia
and East Timur and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka on matters of mutual interests.

05. Bangladesh at the 25th Meeting of the ARF: Hon. Foreign Minister pointed out that issues like
terrorism, climate change, transnational crimes, human rights, cyber crimes, forcibly displaced people etc. were
dominating trans-national affairs. He stated that ARF could act as a significant platform for resolving these
issues and expressed Bangladesh’s willingness to extend support and cooperation to various ARF processes.
Hon. Foreign Minister underlined that repatriation of the Rohingya refugees entirely depended on the sincerity
of Myanmar. He called on ASEAN countries for exerting influence over Myanmar, so that the humanitarian crisis
might come to an end.

06. Each year, Bangladesh participates in the ARF Senior Official Meeting (SOM) at DG/Ambassadorial level.
Secretary (Asia and Pacific) will represent Bangladesh in the ARF Seniors Officials Meeting (SOM) in Bangkok on
31 May 2019. Director General (Regional Organizations) attended the ARF SOM in Singapore on 6-8 June 2018.
Ambassador of Bangladesh to Japan participated in the 13th Meeting of the ARF Experts and Eminent Persons
(EEPs) in Chiba, Japan on 26-27 February 2019. Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea attended
the ARF Inter-Sessional Support Group Meeting on Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy in
Seoul on 3 May 2019. Besides, officers from Bangladesh attended ARF Defence Officials’ Dialogue (Seoul, 2-3
May 2019 and Oakland, 7-8 May 2018), ARF Workshop on Preventive Diplomacy and Early Warning (Timor-
Leste, 24-26 April 2019), ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief (Vientiane, Lao PDR, 2-3 April 2019),
ARF Workshop on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (Vietnam, 19-21 December 2017) and ARF
Workshop on Ferry Safety (Guanzhou, China,12-13 December 2017).

07. Bangladesh is strongly committed to peace and disarmament. One of the largest troops contributor
country, Bangladesh has received international recognition and acclaim in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In
the ASEAN region, Bangladeshi peacekeepers were deployed in UN missions in Timor Leste and Cambodia.

08. From the very beginning, Bangladesh continues to catalyze the process of regional cooperation in South
Asia. Given her geo- strategic location, Bangladesh has had traditionally very close links with most of the ASEAN
countries. These contacts have further been reinforced through her membership in BIMSTEC, ACD and Indian
Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). The potential for connectivity, through Asian
Highway or efforts like the Kunming Initiative’, is already positioning Bangladesh as a bridge between South
Asia and South East Asia.

09. Bangladesh has a clear stake in the security of South East Asia. This ranges from conventional security
issues to the emerging threats like trafficking in persons, drugs and arms. Bangladesh opposes terrorism in all
its forms and manifestations and supports ARF efforts to fight the menace.