Bangladesh names Ariful Islam as next Ambassador to the US

Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam, who served as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Offices in Geneva, is going to be Bangladesh's next Ambassador to the United States.

The post of Bangladesh Ambassador to Washington DC has remained vacant for months since Ambassador Asad Alam Siam was appointed Foreign Secretary.

A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB on Wednesday that Ambassador Tareq has moved out of Geneva to Washington DC.

Tareq served as Bangladesh's envoy to Sri Lanka before he was appointed Bangladesh envoy to the UN offices in Geneva in June 2024, succeeding Ambassador Mohammad Sufiur Rahman in this capacity.

Ambassador Tareq, a career diplomat belonging to the 17th batch of the BCS (Foreign Affairs) Cadre, joined the service in 1998.

Before taking up the current position in November 2020, he was serving as the Deputy Permanent Representative in the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

As for his other assignments abroad, he had another stint (from 2005 to 2009) in the New York Permanent Mission as First Secretary initially, and later part as Counsellor.

He then served in the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, India (2009-2012) as a Counsellor as well.

At the headquarters, he served as Director General (South Asia Wing) and before that in various other capacities, including Director (South Asia Wing), Director (Foreign Minister's Office), as well as in the Personnel Wing and the Foreign Secretary's Office.

Ambassador Tareq obtained a Master of Diplomacy and Trade degree from Monash University, Australia and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).