Maldives Abdulla Shahid Elected President of UNGA
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was on Monday elected as President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly winning 143 votes of the 191 ballots cast. The 193-member General Assembly voted on Monday to elect the President, who will preside over the 76th session of the UN body that will commence in September.
In the fray for the election was Shahid as well as former foreign minister of Afghanistan Dr Zalmai Rassoul, who got 48 votes.
India had announced its support for Shahid during the visit of Foreign Secretary to Maldives in November 2020. At the time, he was the only candidate in the fray. Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar congratulated him on his election. “This is a testimony as much to his own stature as to the standing of Maldives. We look forward to working with him to strengthen multilateralism and its much needed reforms,” Jaishankar said on Twitter.
