Bangladeshi government has appointed career diplomat Tareq Md Ariful Islam as the country’s next ambassador to the United States, filling a key diplomatic post that has been vacant for several months.
The news of the appointment was confirmed by a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Islam is currently en route to Washington, DC, following his recent tenure, reports UNB.
The role of Bangladesh’s ambassador to the US has remained vacant since the previous envoy, Asad Alam Siam, was elevated to the position of Foreign Secretary.
A seasoned diplomat from the 17th batch of the BCS (Foreign Affairs) Cadre, Tareq Md Ariful Islam joined the foreign service in 1998. He most recently served as Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Offices in Geneva, a role he assumed in June 2024. Prior to his Geneva posting, he was the Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
His career includes extensive experience in multilateral and bilateral diplomacy. Ambassador Islam has served two significant postings at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York—first as First Secretary and Counsellor from 2005 to 2009, and later as Deputy Permanent Representative from 2018 until 2020, before his assignment to Sri Lanka.
He also served as Counsellor at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, India, from 2009 to 2012.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Dhaka, he has held several key positions, including Director General of the South Asia Wing, Director of the Foreign Minister’s Office, and postings in the Personnel Wing and the Foreign Secretary’s Office.
Ambassador Islam is an alumnus of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in Diplomacy and Trade from Monash University in Australia.
