Tazeen Akhtar
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to attend 29th ASEAN Regional Forum Meeting (RFM). The forum will continue from 4 to 6 August 2022.The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) consists of 27 countries of Asia Pacific including Pakistan. These countries have consultations on regional peace and security in this forum.
ARF was established in 1994 and Pakistan joined in 2004. Pakistan attaches great importance with ARF. Pakistan attends the forum regularly as active member of the forum. ASEAN is promising region for Pakistan as the member countries are keen to promoting bilateral relations and cooperation with Pakistan.
Members countries are : Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United States, and Viet Nam.
Foreign Office Pakistan shared that the foreign minister will participate in deliberations on political and security issues of concern to Asia-Pacific aimed at promoting common solutions through dialogue and cooperation. He will also meet with the prime minister and foreign minister of Cambodia and have bilateral meetings with a number of his counterparts on the sidelines.
At the ARF Ministerial, FM Bilawal will participate in deliberations on political and security issues of concern to Asia-Pacific aimed at promoting common solutions through dialogue and cooperation.
The objectives of the ASEAN Regional Forum are outlined in the First ARF Chairman’s Statement (1994), as to foster constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security issues of common interest and concern; and to make significant contributions to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region.
The 27th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (1994) stated that “The ARF could become an effective consultative Asia-Pacific Forum for promoting open dialogue on political and security cooperation in the region. In this context, ASEAN should work with its ARF partners to bring about a more predictable and constructive pattern of relations in the Asia Pacific.”
The ASEAN Regional Forum adopted in July 1996 the following criteria for participation:
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Commitment:
All new participants, who will all be sovereign states, must subscribe to, and work cooperatively to help achieve the ARF’s key goals. Prior to their admission, all new participants should agree to abide by and respect fully the decisions and statements already made by the ARF. All ASEAN members are automatically participants of ARF.
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Relevance:
A new participant should be admitted only if it can be demonstrated that it has an impact on the peace and security of the “geographical footprint” of key ARF activities (i.e. Northeast and Southeast Asia as well as Oceania).
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Gradual expansion:
Efforts must be made to control the number of participants to a manageable level to ensure the effectiveness of the ARF.
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Consultations:
All applications for participation should be submitted to the Chairman of the ARF, who will consult all the other ARF participants at the SOM and ascertain whether a consensus exists for the admission of the new participant. Actual decisions on participation will be approved by the Ministers.
The ARF is chaired by the ASEAN Chair of that year. For the period of January – December 2022, the Chairman of the ARF and the ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting are His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister PRAK Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Cambodia and Her Excellency EAT Sophea, Secretary of State Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Kingdom of Cambodia
