The Election Commission of India was today elected the Chair of the General Assembly of Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for the next two years.
A statement released here said Commissioner Cho Byoung-Hun of South Korea (outgoing Chair) felicitated Chief Election Commissioner of India V S Sampath and assured him of full cooperation in strengthening AAEA and expanding its activities.
At the meeting held in New Delhi, ECI was represented by Sampath and Election Commissioners H S Brahma and Dr Nasim Zaidi.
Sampath thanked the members for the trust and confidence reposed in ECI.
He stressed AAEA should maintain a prominent profile in the fields of democracy and election management. He shared his vision of expanding AAEA and making it truly representative by admitting several Asian countries which are eligible to become members. He also reiterated ECI's commitment to experience-sharing and capacity building of EMBs in the region.
The Executive Board comprising South Korea, India, the Philippines, Taiwan and Kazakhstan which met earlier in the day, decided to endorse, among other things, admission of the Russian Federation as a new member of AAEA.
The Executive Board meets annually to discuss important issues and report to the General Assembly of the Association which meets every two years, the statement said.
It added the General Assembly elected the Philippines as Vice Chair and designated it as the host for the next General Assembly. Mongolia, Bhutan and South Korea were elected as Executive Members.
The General Assembly also admitted Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and the Maldives as new members.
India is a founding member of AAEA which was established in 1998.
