VIDISHA Maitra elected to UN’s high profile body

VIDISHA Maitra belonging to India’s Foreign Service (IFS) has been elected to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) of the United Nations with the strong support of the member states. India’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador T. S. Tirumurti, has expressed gratitude to the member states for reposing faith in India’s candidate. He added that India has a stellar record of bringing its professional auditing experience to the UN. He affirmed that India takes the responsibility very seriously. Vidisha Maitra, 35, first came into the limelight in September 2019  for her staunch reply to Pakistan at the United Nations following an address by the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. The IFS officer of the 2008 batch is the recipient of the EAM’s former Ambassador Bimal Sanyal Memorial Prize Gold Medal Best Officer Trainee in 2009. Maitra was then lauded for her reply to Pakistan PM by several notables on social media, including Member of Parliament (MP) Shobha Karandlaje and Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi. Maitra had referred to the Pakistan Prime Minister by his full name, Imran Khan Niazi, was appreciated by many people who recalled that it was General AAK Niazi from the Niazi clan of Mianwali, then lieutenant-general in the Pakistan Army,   who surrendered to Indian forces in 1971 with over 93,000 army ending the Bangladesh  Liberation War  First secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Vidisha Maitra while exercising India’s right to reply to Pakistan’s PM unfounded diatribe,  had added that Indian citizens do not need anyone to voice their opinions. “Least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from the ideology of hate,” she said referring to Pakistan’s alleged reputation of harbouring home-grown terrorists. Born and educated in Delhi, Maitra is among the most up to date IFS  officials and first secretary in the United Nations. edited by @chakravartypk