The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation on Saturday declared Ahmedabad a World Heritage City, making it India’s first city to receive such an accolade. The city’s nomination was supported by 20 countries at the 41st session of its World Heritage Committee meeting in Krakow, Poland.

“Just inscribed as Unesco World Heritage Site: Historic city of Ahmedabad #India,” the UN body said in a tweet on Saturday.

India’s permanent representative at Unesco, Ruchira Kamboj, said that the city has stood “for peace” for over 600 years and also “for unity”, and is one of the “finest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture and Hindu-Muslim art”.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah also hailed the declaration. Expressing his delight at the announcement, Rupani said in a tweet, “Thrilled to learn that Ahmedabad has been recognised as a Unesco #WorldHeritage city, first of its kind in India.” Shah said, “Proud moment for every Indian.”

Ahmedabad was in the race for the title along with Delhi and Mumbai. The walled city of Ahmedabad is believed to be founded by Ahmed Shah some six hundred years ago. On March 31, 2011, the city had featured in Unesco’s tentative list of world heritage cities.

Clarification: A previous version of this story said the title was granted to Ahmedabad because of the ‘harmonious co-existence of Muslim, Hindu and Jain communities’ there. This has been removed.