Dhaka: The two-day 21st Inter-sessional Meeting on Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF ISM on CTTC) concluded today in the capital. The Inter-sessional Meeting (ISM) discussed five priority areas including illicit drug, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Matters, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, Trafficking in Persons, and Border Security Management.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the meeting also covered issues related to both conventional and unconventional sources of threat to national, regional, and global peace and stability. Bangladesh, as the co-chair of the ARF ISM on CTTC, hosted the event in coordination with the other two co-chairing countries, the Philippines, and the United States, as mentioned in a foreign ministry’s press release.
The two-day meeting brought together diplomats, government officials, and experts from the 27 participant countries of ARF. The 26th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Conference, held in Singapore on July 23-25, 1993, agreed to establish the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to foster constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security issues of common interest and concern.
The forum also aims to make significant contributions to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region. Bangladesh joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2006 and, for the first time, became co-chair of ARF ISM on Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime in 2023.