In first foreign visit as UNGA President-elect, Maldives FM Abdulla Shahid reaches India

Marking his first foreign visit, the President-elect of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Abdulla Shahid from the Maldives has arrived in India. Shahid will be in the country on an official visit till July 24. He was received by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary at the Indian Ocean Region Division (JS IOR) Amit Narang. 

Minister Shahid is accompanied by Member of Parliament Hussain Shaheem, and Joint Secretary Mariyam Midhfa Naeem from the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

India backed Abdulla for presidential candidature

India had strongly backed the candidature of Abdulla in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) polls and the support was evident during Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla's visit to the Maldives in the month of November last year. Again, during the visit of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to the Maldives in February of 2021, India repeatedly continued to advocate for his candidature.

UNGA President-elect to hold talks with PM, External Affairs Minister

As per sources, during the visit,  Shahid will be paying a courtesy call to the Prime Minister and will be holding talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on key international, multilateral, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual interest. The External Affairs Minister will also be hosting an official dinner in honour of the visiting dignitary while Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla too will be hosting the minister.

"An opportunity to exchange views on several global challenges"

According to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs, the visit of the PGA-Elect will provide an opportunity to exchange views with him on several global challenges that the United Nations is currently seized with. "It will also give us an opportunity to reiterate India's abiding commitment to multilateralism and to the UN's leadership in confronting these challenges," it stated. Significantly, ​India would be the first country that the UNGA President-elect would be visiting in his official capacity since his election on June 7, 2021. 

Marking friendly ties India, the President-elect of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly and Maldivian Foreign Minister, Abdulla Shahid had appointed India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu as his Chef de Cabinet. The friendly relations were also evident as India had been sending relief materials such as medicines and other essentials to Maldives amid the COVID crisis. The country, along with Bhutan was the initial two countries to receive vaccines produced in India in January this year.

India, currently serving the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council, will assume the Presidency of the 15-nation UN organ in August.

The 4-day visit by the UNGA President-elect will be a center of attraction for several countries as it is said to deepen ties between India and the United Nations while also promoting bilateral cooperation between India and Maldives in the coming days.