China backs ASEAN candidate, US wants an East European; Islamabad knows just whom to block.
China backs ASEAN candidate, US wants an East European; Islamabad knows just whom to block.
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s adversarial diplomacy and the considered equivocations of the US have provided early indications that India will have to demonstrate sustained dexterity to install Shashi Tharoor in the top UN post.
India formally approached the US on Friday to seek support for its candidate. A Bush administration official is reported to have said: “The secretary-general of the UN is an extremely important position for the welfare of the whole world and the US will be looking very carefully at all nominees.”
For Munir Akram, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN and an implacable anti-India hawk, Tharoor’s candidature afforded an opportunity to attack another, and unrelated, Indian cause: “Perhaps the most significant message that we could read into the nomination is that India has given up its bid for permanent membership of the Security Council.”
Tharoor stated explicitly on Thursday that his candidature is wholly irrelevant to India’s bid for the Security Council seat.
Although Pakistan has not yet entered the fray, it is expected to field a candidate soon - chiefly to unsettle India’s campaign. Nafis Sadik, a high-profile serving UN official, is considered to be the likely choice. She is currently Kofi Annan’s special envoy on HIV/AIDS. Munir Akram, on the other hand, is Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s choice.
Tharoor is flying into Delhi on Sunday to decide his campaign strategy in consultation with India’s political establishment. Indian missions across the world have already begun lobbying for him.
A high-profile UN figure who has cancelled his Delhi trip is Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala. He was among the first to announce his candidacy for the secretary-general’s post and was to visit Delhi to secure India’s support. Sri Lanka is disappointed that it was not informed in advance about India’s intention to put up its own candidate.
At any rate, many of Tharoor’s confirmed rivals come from Asia. They include Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who is backed by the ASEAN bloc. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is also in the race.
Although Asian nations believe it is their turn to have a secretary-general, the US had earlier said it favours a candidate from an East European country. The fate of the candidates will finally be decided by the UN Security Council, and its choice will be endorsed by the General Assembly by vote.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}