UNITED NATIONS: INDIA TO FIELD CANDIDATE FOR TOP JOB
Thalif Deen
NEW YORK - When India ran against Japan for a non-permanent seat in the 15-member UN Security Council back in October 1996, it suffered a humiliating defeat.
The vote was a whopping 142 for Japan and a measly 40 for India in a General Assembly of 191 member states. By UN standards, it was a monumental political disaster.
As Dharam Shourie, a longstanding UN correspondent for Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency would recall, the news took even visiting opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee by surprise.
Asked for his reaction, the onetime Indian prime minister made the caustic comment: "The defeat was shocking. The margin was devastating."
Since voting was by secret ballot, most of the countries that pledged their votes, including in writing, obviously reneged on their promises. Japan, on the other hand, using its economic clout and increased aid pledges, succeeded in garnering more votes at the expense of India.
As one of the world's nuclear powers and a self-styled superpower in the region, India redeemed itself when it was recently elected to the new Human Rights Council with the highest number of votes for the Asian slate of candidates: 173, compared with Bangladesh (160), Pakistan (149) and Sri Lanka (123).
Asked for his comments, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Nirupam Sen told an Indian reporter rather gleefully: "It is poetic justice that the largest democracy (in the world) should have the largest pool of votes."
The elections for the Human Rights Council were viewed by some diplomats as a political barometre for the proposed expansion of the Security Council: a proposal that is currently in limbo because of sharp division among the 191 member states.
All four countries aspiring for permanent seats in the Security Council -- India, Brazil, Japan and Germany -- were elected to the Human Rights Council. Of the four, India received the largest number of votes compared with Brazil (165), Japan (158) and Germany (154).
But still, the proposal for an expansion of the permanent membership of the Security Council has failed to get off the ground.
If both Japan and India fail to get permanent seats, the longtime speculation at the United Nations was that either of the two countries -- or both -- may be interested in fielding candidates for the post of UN secretary-general, since it is generally believed that it is Asia's turn to head the world body.
Japan remains tight-lipped. But not surprisingly, the Indian government is expected to announce in New Delhi Thursday that it will support Shashi Tharoor, UN under-secretary-general for communications and public information, as its candidate for the post of secretary-general. The job falls vacant Dec. 31 when incumbent Kofi Annan leaves after his two-term, 10-year tenure in office.
Tharoor, the highest ranking Indian in the world body, has worked in the UN system since 1978, has a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States, and is author of several novels, including a political satire titled "The Great Indian Novel".
So far, the three declared Asian candidates are: Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.
India's interest could also trigger a negative response from its longstanding political rival and neighbour: Pakistan. According to one political source, the Pakistani government may well nominate its own candidate merely as a political irritant to India's candidature.
According to a time-honoured tradition -- but not reflected in the UN charter -- the job of secretary-general should not be held by any of the world's major political or economic powers, thereby ruling out countries such as the United States, Japan, India, China, Germany, France, Russia or Britain.
As a result, former incumbents have come from< (END)
