'India-Maldives will work to push for reorganization and reforms in UN'

Maldives Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid has won the Presidential election of the United Nations General Assembly. India expects close cooperation with the island nation on several UN reforms.

New Delhi: With Maldives Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid winning the Presidential election of the United Nations General Assembly, India expects close cooperation with the island nation now. India's former ambassador Jitendra Tripathi who served in various capacities in Indian missions in the Maldives, Hungary, Zambia said that with Maldives taking over as the President of the 76th UNGA, India will be able to push for the reorganization of the UN or the reforms in UN bodies. He said that India is particularly interested in getting the Security Council reforms and that will remain the country’s priority.

Shahid's win is also seemed to have come as a big relief for New Delhi, given the unpleasant comments against India by the former President of General Assembly Volkan Bozkir on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the tenure of Maldives as the President of UNGA, which will last until September 2022, and the tenure of India at the UNSC, which will last till December 2022, is expected to witness smooth cooperation between the two nations at the UN.

Tripathi further said that in the future, it is expected that the Maldivian Foreign Minister will speak for India and not rake up the Kashmir issue at the UN. It is worth noting that India announced its support for Shahid during Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s visit to the Maldives in November 2020, much before Afghanistan announced its candidature in January this year.

"India's faith is more tied with the Maldives than Afghanistan because the Maldives is our immediate neighbour. India and Afghanistan relations are de-hyphenated from India and Maldivian relations. In Afghanistan, India has pumped in 3 billion dollars and have more than 35 projects and that too more strategically because this can contain Pakistan", former ambassador Tripathi pointed out, adding that Indian and Maldivian relations are on a constant and steady rise and this will continue for quite some time to the discomfort of China and Pakistan.

The Maldives candidate, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid won the election with 143 votes, out of a total of 191 votes cast, while his rival, former Afghanistan FM Zalmai Rassoul won 48. Minister Shahid was nominated as the Maldives candidate for the election, by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for the Asia-Pacific Group's turn, for the session that would commence on 14 September 2021. This is the first time the Maldives has presented a candidate for the Presidency of the General Assembly. The victory meant that the Maldives will be only the sixth President from a 'Small Island Developing State', presiding over the UN General Assembly in the history of the United Nations.

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, serving as the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. The President of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA) is responsible for chairing the United Nations General Assembly session for the elected term and is also the presiding officer for this duration. Furthermore, the PGA represents the whole membership at conferences, other international and regional meetings, and can co-host events with the Member States and other partners. The Maldives joined the United Nations on 21 September 1965, soon after gaining independence and has since been an active member.

Meanwhile, congratulating Mr Shahid on his Presidency, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "This is a testimony as much to his stature as to the standing of Maldives. We look forward to working with him to strengthen multilateralism and its much-needed reforms". Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, on the other hand, called the winning of the election 'resounding' and a great honour for the Maldives.