Phnom Penh, 4 August 2022 (GNP): Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaches Cambodia to participate in the 29th Ministerial Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
Foreign Ministers and representatives from the 27 ARF member nations will be present at the meeting.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto will take part in discussions on Asia-Pacific-related political and security issues at the ARF Ministerial meeting with aiming to enhance cooperation and joint solutions.
On the margins, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will hold bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers and other officials from the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asian regions.
Pakistan is an important part of the ARF due to its potential as an economic and security player in the Indo-Pacific region.
Foreign Ministers of China and India are also participating in the forum.
ASEAN Regional Forum
The ASEAN Regional Forum is a crucial forum for discussions among Asia Pacific nations on matters pertaining to regional peace and security.
The ARF was created in 1994 by the ASEAN to include its dialogue partners and other regional countries for discussing regional issues.
It also aims to “make significant contributions to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Apart from the ASEAN members, other countries of the ARF include its 10 dialogue partners. That is, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, North Korea, European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and the United States.
The ARF provides a venue for both track-1 (official) and track-2 diplomacy. The forum gathers academics, businessmen, non-ministerial government officials, and media from among its members.
The Indo-Pacific region is one of the world’s most important in terms of the global economy, world peace, and global security. Tensions between the United States and China along with a diverse set of players each with its national interests have led to a fragile security order in the region.
