Malaysia became the 82nd member of the United Nations on 17 September 1957 (when it was then known as the Federation of Malaya). Malaysia has held a rotational non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for four terms, and has participated in over 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions since October 1960. History Soon after declaring independence on 31 August 1957, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman wrote to the United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld to express Malaya's interest to join the United Nations. On 17 September 1957, the twelfth session of the United Nations General Assembly, presided by Sir Leslie Munroe (New Zealand), unanimously agreed to admit Malaya as its 82nd member through resolution 1134(XII). Tun Dr. Ismail Abd Rahman was appointed as Malaya and Malaysia's first ambassador to the United States of America, as well as the United Nations – two posts which he held concurrently from 1957 till 1959. On 16 September 1963, Malaya merged with the former British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, less than two years after the merger, Singapore was expelled from the federation. Activities Malaysia is a strong proponent of multilateralism and international cooperation. Malaysia's presence in the United Nations, among others, is to formulate, coordinate, defend and advance Malaysia's positions and interests on all three pillars of the United Nations (Peace and Security, Human Rights and Development). General Assembly On 17 September 1996, Razali Ismail was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly's 51st session. At the time of his election, he was serving as Malaysia's ambassador to Cuba and its High Commissioner to Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. He was the third representative from Southeast Asia to preside over the world body after Dr. Carlos Pena Romulo (the Philippines) and Adam Malik (Indonesia). Razali Ismail presided the General Assembly's 51st session from 17 September 1996 to 15 September 1997. Malaysia served as Vice-President of the General Assembly six times – specifically at its 20th session (1965-1966), 39th session (1984-1985), 41st session (1986-1987), 46th session (1991-1992), 60th session (2005-2006), and 68th session (2013-2014). In June 2022, Malaysia was elected by the Assembly to serve as Vice-President of the General Assembly at its 77th session (2022-2023). Security Council Malaysia served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for four terms in 1965 (with Czechoslovakia), 1989–1990, 1999–2000 and 2015–2016. In 2015, Malaysia introduced a