Anifah Hosts Reception In New York To Thank International Diplomatic Community For UNSC Support

By Manik Mehta NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, who is currently visiting New York, hosted a reception-dinner Thursday to thank the international diplomatic community for the support it gave to Malaysia during the Oct 16 voting for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) effective 2015. Malaysia was elected to the UNSC on October 16 with an overwhelming majority of 187 of the 192 votes cast. The reception-dinner, which was held at the Malaysian permanent mission to the United Nations, saw a beeline of high-ranking diplomats accredited with the United Nations. Many of the permanent representatives personally came to greet and congratulate Anifah who, later, went around and mingled with the guests. Besides representatives of the Asia-Pacific community, including Asean member states, there was also a large turnout of ambassadors of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement which had given strong support to Malaysia’s candidature. Speaking to Bernama, Anifah said that he was "grateful and appreciative" of the strong support Malaysia’s candidature received during the October 16 voting. Malaysia was elected unopposed to the UNSC. "This reception is our small and humble way of thanking all our friends who stood by us during the General Assembly voting on October 16," Anifah said. The staff members of the Malaysian permanent mission as well as the consulate-general were busy attending to the needs of the guests who relished the large choice of Malaysian and Middle East delicacies that were served, keeping in mind the tastes of ambassadors of OIC member states. Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Morocco and a host of dignitaries and envoys of other Middle Eastern and African countries could be spotted amongst the guests. There were also several European ambassadors and some Latin American envoys who had come to greet Anifah who went around mingling with the guests and thanking each of them. Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, remarked that he liked Malaysian cuisine very much. Also present at the reception were Hussein Haniff, the Malaysian permanent representative to the United Nations, and Awang Adek Hussin, the Washington-based Malaysian ambassador to the United States. Hussein told Bernama that while Malaysia had comfortably won the election, the real work for the Security Council during the next two years is going to begin soon. Although Malaysia will officially take over the non-permanent seat at the UNSC on Jan 1, 2015, the Malaysian permanent representation will be allowed under UN provisions to send a senior staff member to attend the UNSC meetings as an observer from Nov 21 to enable the staff to prepare themselves for the UNSC work. "We will be watching the work at the UNSC and apprising ourselves of the working of the body during the transition period," said Hussein, who told this writer in past interviews that Malaysia’s priority at the UNSC will be to strive for world peace and stability by pursuing the moderation course. --BERNAMA