The Maldives on Friday failed to get elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member. Maldives and Indonesia had contested for a seat in the UNSC, but in the plenary session of Friday held at the UN headquarters in New York, Indonesia won the seat after securing 144 votes against 46 for the Maldives.
The Ministry of External Affairs maintained a studied silence on whether India voted against the Maldives. An official source said, “We rarely make public announcement on this kind of issues.”
190 members participate
In the election, 190 members participated, and the winning members had to get more than two-thirds majority or 127 votes. Indonesia is likely to take up the seat on January 1, 2019 with other newly elected non-permanent members — Germany, Belgium, Dominican Republic and South Africa.
India’s relation with the Maldives has nosedived in recent months with Delhi expressing dissatisfaction on the law and order situation as well as on the imposition of a state of emergency by the Abdullah Yameen government. Earlier in the week, a prominent member of Mr. Yameen’s party was not allowed to enter India and was sent back from the airport in Chennai. In comparison, India’s ties with Indonesia have witnessed an upswing with the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Maldives said it will continue to champion its priorities at the UN, despite not winning the seat at the Security Council. “The Maldives extends congratulations to Indonesia. The Maldives also reiterates its solidarity and commitment to work closely with Indonesia, and all the newly elected members.”