UN General Assembly President to visit India on Sunday

By Arul LouiUnited Nations, Aug 27 : UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid is to arrive in India on Sunday for a two-day trip.

He is set to meet Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and discuss the "ongoing issues at the General Assembly, and Indias engagement with the United Nations", according to his Spokesperson Paulina Kubiak.

Shahid is expected to arrive in India from Tajikistan where he is visiting following a visit to Kuwait in the course of he is preparing to end his time in his office later this month.Shahid Shahid, who was foreign minister of the Maldives Shahid, who was the foreign minister of the Maldives, was the Maldives foreign minister.

India his first visit in July of last year following his election the month before.During the visit, he had met with External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.India has backed Shahids nomination to run for Assembly presidency and, following his election, provided him with the services of the top Indian diplomat Nagaraj Naidu to be his chief of staff.

Shahid has emerged as a key actor in international diplomacy.His term has seen the role of the Assembly expanded since the Security Council has been unable to take action in response to Russias incursion of Ukraine.

For the first time in years the Assembly convened to discuss the issue in the form of the Uniting for Peace resolution, an option for the Assembly to consider matters in the event that the Council is not able to act.The Council members are also ordered to justify their vetoes in front of the Assembly.(Arul Louis may be reached via aru.l@ians.in and can be followed on Twitter at @arulouis.) al/ar.