Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has said that his landslide win in the presidential election of the General Assembly in the United Nations mirrors the exemplary work of the “foreign ministry team”.

In a virtual meeting with the members of Maldivian missions abroad, FM Shahid revealed that the victory echoes the hard and sincere work of 17 Maldivian missions from Tokyo, Japan to Manhattan, US.

He expressed pride in the team work, adding that the team has made the nation proud as well, at a time the globe is immersed in the threats of Covid-19.

FM Shahid acknowledged the hard work of the “foreign ministry team” in overcoming the Covid-19 challenges, enhance foreign relations, expand tourism as well as investment and business opportunities for Maldives.

Maldives won the election held on June 7 to determine the successor of current UN General Assembly’s president, Volkan Bozkir, with FM Shahid leading the votes with 143 out of 191 votes cast. FM Shahid emerged successful against Afghanistan’s Zalmai Rassoul.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih nominated the Maldives minister as the country’s candidate for the elections’ Asia-Pacific Group’s turn session to commence on 14 September.

FM Shahid has the privilege of being the first ever candidate Maldives has presented for the UNGA presidency and he will be the sixth president from a Small Island Developing State to preside over the UNGA in UN’s history.

FM Shahid has since appointed Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States, Thilmeeza Hussain as the Special Envoy of the PGA and India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, K Nagaraj Naidu as his Chef du Cabinet.