Abdulla Shahid, the Foregin Minister of Maldives has been elected as the 76th President of the United Nations General Assembly (U.N.G.A.). Abdulla Shahid who will succeed Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir won 143 votes out of the 191 casted votes.

Abdulla Shahid was contesting against Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, the former foreign minister of Afghanistan who got 48 votes. It was a landslide victory for Mr. Shahid.

Which world leaders congratulated the new Pres.?

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General António Guterres, former President of the UN Volkan Bozkir, India’s Foregin Minister S. Jaishankar, and President of the Maldives were among the world leaders and prominent figures to congratulate the new Pres.

How could this be helpful for India?

Maldives is an independent island country in the north-central Indian Ocean around 720 km away from Kerala.

Let me inform you that India had backed the candidature for President Abdulla Shahid since November, 2020.

The Afghanistan government had also asked India for its support but India had denied saying that it had already promised its support to Abdulla Shahid.

India will use this opportunity to push forward its agenda of acquiring the permanent seat at UNGA. India is currently serving the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council.