India to vote for Maldives in UNGA President election next week

Decision will disappoint Afghanistan, which has former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul in the running.

India will vote in support of Maldives’ Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid at the election for the President of the General Assembly (PGA) in the United Nations next week, a decision which will disappoint another close neighbour, Afghanistan, which has former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul in the running. The race between both South Asian neighbours for the post, which is being chosen this time from the Asia-Pacific grouping, will be decided in the election on June 7. According to a senior official in Kabul, the Ghani government has formally requested India to vote for Mr. Rassoul, and was still hopeful of securing support. However, at least three government officials aware of the process here have said that India has made it clear that it cannot vote for Afghanistan as it had committed support for the Maldives, and suggested that Mr. Rassoul’s candidature had been announced only in January, which was quite late for the race.