NEW YORK, 8 June, 2021 (TON): Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid won over Afghanistan's nominee to become the next President of the UN General Assembly.

The elections held on Monday involved Shahid who received 143 votes to former Afghanistan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul's 48.

Shahid pledged a "presidency of hope" for a world struggling to recover from the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He will preside over the Assembly session that starts in September, succeeding Turkey's Volkan Bozkir.

The Security Council is scheduled to start the next big election exercise on Tuesday by endorsing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a second term and sending the recommendation to the General Assembly.

After the elections, Shahid said to the media, "This has been a year of disease, despair and devastation at a time like this when we move towards a new normal, as we look to rebuild communities, recover economies, rescue the planet we need to restore hope."

As India backed Shahid, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar tweeted, "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."

Guterres said that "Shahid's longstanding diplomatic experience, including in his current role as minister of foreign affairs, has given him a deep understanding of the importance of multilateralism in addressing today's global challenges".

Shahid was a career diplomat before entering politics. He was first elected to the Maldives Parliament in 2000 and became Speaker in 2009.

In between, he was the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and did a short stint as Foreign Minister from 2007 to 2008. He took up the position again in 2018.

Moreover, the Assembly's presidency rotates among the five regional groups at the UN and it was the Asia-Pacific group's turn this time.