India’s doing the world a favour: Tharoor

NEW DELHI: India’s decision to field Shashi Tharoor as its candidate for the UN top job was first made in September last year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in New York for the General Assembly session.

“I can’t speak for the government but I first got an indication during the last general assembly session in September. It was not a sudden and hasty decision, as is being made out in some quarters. There were a series of consultations, we weighed out the pro’s and con’s, last September when there were already three candidates in the race, and we realised the race was still open,’’ Tharoor told reporters on Tuesday.

“The government of India is doing a favour to the world …but even if I were to lose, no skin off the government’s nose, my future is on the line not India’s,” the candidate said, though he has been making the point time and again that unless there was reasonable chances of success, he would not be in the race. Tharoor admitted that without the backing of the US or other Security Council members Britain, China, Russia and France, he did not have a chance. “Anyone not acceptable to the US or any other member of the Security Council, cannot be elected.”

“Any Secretary General who sufficiently antagonises any one of the five permanent members, will indeed find himself in the position of Boutros-Boutros Ghali,” Tharoor admitted. Ghali was not given a second term as UN Secretary General, because the US opposed him. He plans to take leave around July-August to campaign. The programme has already been drawn up in consultation with senior Indian officials. Tharoor denied that his current boss Kofi Annan had asked him to resign. “If you read the entire transcript you will know he asked me to resign if I win.. It’s a paradox, I have to leave the UN to lead it.”

To avoid any conflict of interest, Tharoor has taken three days leave to come to Delhi. “In fact, I have not met any member of the UN office in Delhi, to make sure there will be no charge that I am using UN resources during this time.”

The government of India has gone into campaign mode for Tharoor. The day the formal announcement was made in Delhi, the Indian missions abroad were instructed to begin lobbying. The foreign office has taken full charge of Tharoor’s programme while in the capital and New Delhi will spare no effort to ensure the candidates victory.

But many people are question, what’s in it for India. “The benefits are mostly intangible,’’ admitted Tharoor. “Of course, Tharoor is a good candidate, he is young , energetic and telegenic. He will probably do his job well. What has foxed me is why the government has decided to back him,” said professor SD Muni, a foreign policy expert till recently the head of the Jawaharlal University’s international section.  “For us, Secretary Generalship is a matter of immediate future whereas permanent membership is a long-term issue. And my candidature will not affect India’s chances at all,” he explained to reporters yesterday. Does this mean the UNSC reforms are in the distant future?

He is BJP’s blue-eyed boy too

The BJP endorsed candidature of Shashi Tharoor for the post of  Secretary General of the UN as India’s nominee.

Opposition leader LK Advani told him that he and his party would be happy to see an Indian at the top UN post. He expressed confidence in his credentials and inquired from Tharoor about the chances of him getting elected to the post.

However, Advani did have a complaint against the government that it did not take the them into confidence on the subject.