United States president Barak Obama has nominated first Muslim Pakistani-American Abid Riaz Qureshi as judge on Federal Judiciary Bench in Columbia’s District Court.

“I am pleased to nominate Mr. Qureshi to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama. “I am confident he will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

The president said that Abid Riaz Qureshi is well-educated and principled man who can easily handle US judicial proceedings.

He also wished the nominated judge with best of luck and expressed satisfaction over Abid’s honesty.

This is another of Obama’s firsts for the judiciary, which he has sought to make more reflective of the country, starting by naming Sonia Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, the first Hispanic justice of the Supreme Court in 2009.

Then he appointed Sri Srinivasan, the first Indian-American to a US court of appeals in 2012.

US Muslims warmly welcomed the appointment as Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a legal advocacy organisation said that “I commend President Obama for taking this important step in continuing to pick the best and brightest from every community to serve as part of our nation’s judiciary.”

Abid Riaz Qureshi is a partner in litigation and trial department at DC office of Latham and Watkins which is a law firm. He specializes in cases involving the False Claims Act, health care fraud and securities violations.

The nominated Pakistan-born judge got his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1997 and his BA degree from Cornell University in 1993.