Dhaka to join Indian Ocean Rim tomorrow

Bangladesh will formally join the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) at a meeting of the organisation in Muscat, Oman, tomorrow, reports BSS.

Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad will lead the six-member Bangladesh delegation at the extraordinary meeting of the council of ministers of IOR-ARC.

With induction of Bangladesh into the grouping of littoral and island states, the body will have its membership raised to 19.

Bangladesh applied for its membership during the second council of ministers meeting of IOR-ARC in Maputu, Mozambique, in March last year.

Meanwhile, Azad signed the 'instrument of acceptance' for joining the organisation on January 6, Foreign Ministry sources said yesterday.

The Special Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the member states will begin tomorrow in the Omani capital.