Regional Cooperation State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya commended the role of ARF as a proponent of peace, stability and prosperity in the region and highlighted the values of constructive dialogue, consultation and cooperation by all member states in maintaining peace and security in the region, called for collective efforts by the ARF member states to address traditional and non-traditional security threats.
State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya was participating in the 27th ASEAN Regional Forum on September 12 virtually.
He said that concerted efforts by all members of the ARF is vital to face the uphill task of economic recovery and rebuilding the livelihood of its citizens in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Achieving prosperity and promoting a people-centric economic development plan is key in this regard, State Minister Balasuriya said.
State Minister Balasuriya said that difficult times characterised by traditional and non-traditional security issues paint a picture that these issues are no longer confined to the geographical boundaries of a respective country. “Sri Lanka rests importance to the regional stability and recovery, practical security cooperation, maritime and cyber security, counter terrorism and transnational crimes and non-proliferation and disarmament in this regard,” he said. He said that the future direction of ARF must strive to achieve these objectives through an all-inclusive approach.
“He said that the misuse of information and communication technology (ICT) as a major hindrance to the global security and called for collective efforts to cooperate and mitigate threats such as cybercrime, cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure.
“The ARF, as a regional mechanism, has dealt successfully in countering terrorism and transnational crimes and remedies by single country is not sufficient and a collective effort is needed to fight against these transnational crimes,” the State Minister said.
The 27th ARF adopted the Ha Noi Plan of Action II (HPOA), which is to be implemented through 2020-2025. The HPOA II will serve as a sequel to the latter which is intended to build closer regional integration, consolidating and strengthening the economic fundamentals of the Member Countries.
The 27th ASEAN Regional Forum was represented by Malaysia, Canada, Indonesia, the United States of America, the Philippines, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Thailand, China, the European Union, Bangladesh, Timore Leste, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, India, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, and Viet Nam.
The ASEAN Regional Forum was established under the aegis of the ASEAN in 1993 and Sri Lanka is a member of the ARF since 2007. It is an important platform for providing a constructive security dialogue and consultation on political and security issues of common interest and concern in the Southeast Asian region. It provides a platform for members to significantly contribute to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region.
