Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was yesterday elected as the President of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.
In the 193-member General Assembly, 143 votes were polled in his favour out of the total 191 ballots cast. Mr. Shahid will preside over the 76th Session of the UN body that will commence in September. Former Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Dr Zalmai Rassoul was the other contestant.
- External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has congratulated Mr Shahid on his election. Dr Jaishankar said, this is a testimony as much to his own stature as to the standing of Maldives. Dr Jaishankar said, India looks forward to working with him to strengthen multilateralism and its much needed reforms.
- India’s Permanent Mission to the UN congratulated the Maldives Foreign Minister for the robust victory.
- The President of the General Assembly is elected every year by a secret ballot and requires a simple majority vote of the General Assembly. According to the established rules of regional rotation, the President of the 76th Session of the General Assembly was to be elected from the Group of Asia-Pacific States. Mr Shahid will succeed Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir.