President of the United Nations General Assembly - wikipedia President of the United Nations General Assembly President of the United Nations General Assembly Emblem of the United Nations Incumbent Miroslav Lajčák Appointer United Nations General Assembly Term length 1 year Inaugural holder Paul - Henri Spaak Formation 1946 Website List of Presidents of the UN General Assembly The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly ( UNGA ) on a yearly basis. The President presides over the sessions of the General Assembly. Miroslav Lajčák of Slovakia has been elected as the United Nations General Assembly President of its 72nd session beginning in September 2017. Contents 1 Election 2 List of presidents 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Election A map of the world showing the home countries of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly up until the 69th session of the General Assembly in 2014 - 15, with historical member states in inset. The session of the assembly is scheduled for every year starting in September -- any special, or emergency special, assemblies over the next year will be headed by the President of the UN General Assembly. The presidency rotates annually between the five geographic groups : African, Asia - Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States. Because of their powerful stature globally, some of the largest, most powerful countries have never held the presidency, such as the People 's Republic of China, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In particular, it is customary that no permanent member of the United Nations Security Council ever serves as General Assembly president. The only country that had a national elected as President of the United Nations General Assembly twice is Argentina ; all the other member states had been represented only once by their nationals holding this office. This does not include special and emergency special sessions of the General Assembly. List of Presidents Year elected Name of President UN member state Region Sessions 1946 Paul - Henri Spaak Belgium WES First 1947 Oswaldo Aranha Brazil LAS First special Second 1948.1 ! 1948 José Arce Argentina LAS Second special 1948.2 ! 1948 Herbert Vere Evatt Australia COS Third 1949 Carlos P. Romulo Philippines EAS Fourth 1950 Nasrollah Entezam Iran EAS Fifth 1951 Luis Padilla Nervo Mexico LAS Sixth 1952 Lester B. Pearson Canada COS Seventh 1953 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit India COS Eighth, First woman president 1954 Eelco van Kleffens Netherlands WES Ninth 1955 José Maza Fernández Chile LAS Tenth 1956.1 ! 1956 Rudecindo Ortega ( de ) Chile LAS First emergency special Second emergency special 1956.2 ! 1956 Wan Waithayakon Thailand EAS Eleventh 1957 Leslie Munro New Zealand COS Twelfth Third emergency special 1958 Charles Malik Lebanon MES Thirteenth 1959 Víctor Andrés Belaúnde Peru LAS Fourteenth Fourth emergency special 1960 Frederick Boland Ireland WES Fifteenth Third special 1961 Mongi Slim Tunisia MES Sixteenth 1962 Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Pakistan COS Seventeenth Fourth special 1963 Carlos Sosa Rodríguez ( es ) Venezuela LAS Eighteenth 1964 Alex Quaison - Sackey Ghana COS Nineteenth 1965 Amintore Fanfani Italy WES Twentieth 1966 Abdul Rahman Pazhwak Afghanistan Asia Twenty - first Fifth special Fifth emergency special 1967 Corneliu Mănescu Romania EEG Twenty - second 1968 Emilio Arenales Catalán Guatemala GRULAC Twenty - third 1969 Angie Brooks Liberia Africa Twenty - fourth 1970 Edvard Hambro Norway WEOG Twenty - fifth 1971 Adam Malik Indonesia Asia Twenty - sixth 1972 Stanisław Trepczyński Poland EEG Twenty - seventh 1973 Leopoldo Benites Ecuador GRULAC Twenty - eighth Sixth special Abdelaziz Bouteflika Algeria Africa Twenty - ninth Seventh special Gaston Thorn Luxembourg WEOG Thirtieth 1976 Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Sri Lanka Asia Thirty - first 1977 Lazar Mojsov Yugoslavia EEG Thirty - second Eighth special Ninth special Tenth special 1978 Indalecio Liévano Colombia GRULAC Thirty - third 1979 Salim Ahmed Salim United Republic of Tanzania Africa Thirty - fourth Sixth emergency special Seventh emergency special Eleventh special 1980 Rüdiger von Wechmar Federal Republic of Germany WEOG Thirty - fifth Eighth emergency special 1981 Ismat T. Kittani Iraq Asia Thirty - sixth Seventh emergency special -- Continuation Ninth emergency special Twelfth special 1982 Imre Hollai Hungary EEG Thirty - seventh Jorge Illueca Panama GRULAC Thirty - eighth 1984 Paul J.F. Lusaka Zambia Africa Thirty - ninth 1985 Jaime de Piniés Spain WEOG Fortieth Thirteenth special 1986 Humayun Rashid Choudhury Bangladesh Asia Forty - first Fourteenth special Peter Florin German Democratic Republic EEG Forty - second Fifteenth special Dante Caputo Argentina GRULAC Forty - third Joseph Nanven Garba Nigeria Africa Forty - fourth Sixteenth special Seventeenth special Eighteenth special Guido de Marco Malta WEOG Forty - fifth 1991 Samir Shihabi Saudi Arabia Asia Forty - sixth Stoyan Ganev Bulgaria EEG Forty - seventh Rudy Insanally Guyana GRULAC Forty - eighth Amara Essy Ivory Coast Africa Forty - ninth 1995 Diogo de Freitas do Amaral Portugal WEOG Fiftieth Razali Ismail Malaysia Asia Fifty - first Tenth emergency special Nineteenth special Hennadiy Udovenko Ukraine EEG Fifty - second Tenth emergency special -- Continuation Twentieth special 1998 Didier Opertti Uruguay GRULAC Fifty - third Tenth emergency special -- Continuation Twenty - first special 1999 Theo - Ben Gurirab Namibia Africa Fifty - fourth Twenty - second special Twenty - third special Twenty - fourth special 2000 Harri Holkeri Finland WEOG Fifty - fifth Tenth emergency special -- Continuation Twenty - fifth special Twenty - sixth special Han Seung - soo Republic of Korea Asia Fifty - sixth Tenth emergency special -- Continuation 2002 Jan Kavan Czech Republic EEG Fifty - seventh Tenth emergency special -- Continuation 2003 Julian Hunte Saint Lucia GRULAC Fifty - eighth Tenth emergency special -- Continuation Jean Ping Gabon Africa Fifty - ninth 2005 Jan Eliasson Sweden WEOG Sixtieth 2006 Haya Rashed Al - Khalifa Bahrain Asia Sixty - first Tenth emergency special -- Continuation 2007 Srgjan Kerim Republic of Macedonia EEG Sixty - second 2008 Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann Nicaragua GRULAC Sixty - third 2009 Ali Treki Libya Africa Sixty - fourth Joseph Deiss Switzerland WEOG Sixty - fifth 2011 Nassir Al - Nasser Qatar Asia - Pacific Sixty - sixth 2012 Vuk Jeremić Serbia EEG Sixty - seventh ( election ) 2013 John William Ashe Antigua and Barbuda GRULAC Sixty - eighth 2014 Sam Kutesa Uganda Africa Sixty - ninth 2015 Mogens Lykketoft Denmark WEOG Seventieth 2016 Peter Thomson Fiji Asia - Pacific Seventy - first ( election ) 2017 Miroslav Lajčák Slovakia EEG Seventy - second Abbreviations : Pre-1966 COS : Commonwealth Seat EAS : Eastern European and Asian Seat LAS : Latin American Seat MES : Middle Eastern Seat WES : Western European Seat Since 1966 Africa : African Group Asia - Pacific : Asian Group, since 2011 the Asia - Pacific Group EEG : Eastern European Group GRULAC : Latin American and Caribbean Group WEOG : Western European and Others Group See also President of the United Nations Security Council References Jump up ^ `` UN : About the General Assembly ''. Retrieved 2009 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ Presidents of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Un.org. Retrieved on 2013 - 12 - 06. Jump up ^ United Nations document GA / 11105 Jump up ^ `` Asian Group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia - Pacific Group '', Radio New Zealand International, 31 August 2011. External links Wikinews has news related to : United Nations UN : List of UN General Assembly presidents UN General Assembly President Election Reform. UNelections.org. More news on UN elections and appointments. Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly 1940s Spaak ( BEL ) Aranha ( BRA ) Arce ( ARG ) Evatt ( AUS ) Rómulo ( PHI ) 1950s Entezam ( IRI ) Nervo ( MEX ) Pearson ( CAN ) Pandit ( IND ) van Kleffens ( NED ) Maza ( CHI ) Ortega ( CHI ) Prince Wan Waithayakon ( THA ) Munro ( NZL ) Malik ( LIB ) Belaúnde ( PER ) 1960s Boland ( IRL ) Slim ( TUN ) Khan ( PAK ) Rodriguez ( VEN ) Quaison - Sackey ( GHA ) Fanfani ( ITA ) Pazhwak ( AFG ) Mănescu ( ROM ) Catalán ( GUA ) Brooks ( LBR ) 1970s Hambro ( NOR ) Malik ( INA ) Trepczyński ( POL ) Benites ( ECU ) Bouteflika ( ALG ) Thorn ( LUX ) Amerasinghe ( SRI ) Mojsov ( YUG ) Liévano ( COL ) Salim ( TAN ) 1980s von Wechmar ( BRD ) Kittani ( IRQ ) Hollai ( HUN ) Illueca ( PAN ) Lusaka ( ZAM ) Piniés ( ESP ) Choudhury ( BAN ) Florin ( DDR ) Caputo ( ARG ) Garba ( NGR ) 1990s de Marco ( MLT ) Shihabi ( KSA ) Ganev ( BUL ) Insanally ( GUY ) Essy ( CIV ) Freitas ( POR ) Ismail ( MAS ) Udovenko ( UKR ) Opertti ( URU ) Gurirab ( NAM ) 2000s Holkeri ( FIN ) Han ( KOR ) Kavan ( CZE ) Hunte ( LCA ) Ping ( GAB ) Eliasson ( SWE ) Al - Khalifa ( BAH ) Kerim ( MKD ) d'Escoto ( NIC ) Treki ( LIB ) 2010s Deiss ( SUI ) Nasser ( QAT ) Jeremić ( SRB ) Ashe ( ANT ) Kutesa ( UGA ) Lykketoft ( DEN ) Thomson ( FIJ ) Lajčák ( SVK ) Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Africa Liberia Morocco Tanzania Americas Barbados Canada Chile Colombia Guyana Honduras Panama United States Asia Afghanistan China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Syria Europe Belgium Belarus Croatia Finland France Germany Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Russia Sweden United Kingdom Ukraine Oceania Australia New Zealand Permanent Observers Holy See Palestine Sovereign Military Order of Malta Related articles Current Permanent Representatives UN Members General Assembly Security Council President United Nations António Guterres, Secretary - General Amina J. 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Question: who was the only indian to be elected as president of the united nations general assembly
Answer: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit