The suspense is over and it is official. India has decided to campaign for its very own Shashi Tharoor as Kofi Annan’s successor at the United Nations. India has informed other members of UN through diplomatic channels of Tharoor’s candidature and requested support
“It’s a matter of pride if a son of India and son of Asia becomes United Nations Secretary General”, Navtej Sarna, Foreign Office spokesman said confirming media reports today that Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information at the United nations is India’s nominee for the UN job.
There are three other Asian contenders – Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirthai and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon – in the fray since China, which heads the Security Council at present, established the line that the next UN head should be from Asia.
Shashi Tharoor, the London born (1956), India, US educated (he holds two masters’ degrees, and a PhD at the age of 22 years) columnist and author of eight books has handled peacekeeping, human rights and communication strategy and several important areas at the UN since joining the world body in 1978.
Said Sarna at his daily briefing: “India believes that a prospective UN Secretary General should be of impeccable credentials, be acceptable to the broadest possible membership of the UN and have a strong commitment to the reform of the UN and the interests of the developing countries”.
“It is within this framework that India has decided to announce the candidature of Shashi Tharoor”, Sarna said and pointed out that Tharoor has been closely involved in the process of reforms at UN. “He is a well-known writer and author of eight books. He is the recipient of several journalism and literary awards including the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. In 1998, the World Economic Forum at Davos had declared him as a global leader of tomorrow”
Saran added Tharoor has an internationally acclaimed stature and experience that makes him eminently suitable to become next Secretary General.
He did not agree with the view that by supporting Tharoor’s candidature India would dilute its claim for a berth in the Security Council.
“These are two separate issues and it is incorrect to perceive India’s support to one will dilute commitment to the other. India is strongly committed to comprehensive reforms and believes that reforms and expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories is central to UN reforms”, he said and went on to remark that there is “widespread and growing” appreciation for India’s impeccable credentials to become a permanent member of Security Council. India continues its engagement with G4 States.
Tharoor: writer-journalist- civil servant
Tharoor took to writing at an early age – 10 years to be precise when he came out with a publication. His first novel appeared in 1989 when he was posted in Geneva. His second novel, Show Business was written in New York in 1992 He holds a Ph D from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
He started his UN career in 1978 as the head of the high commission for refugees operations in Singapore. Later he became a part of the UN’s peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia. From there he moved on to become Secretary General’s Director of communications and special projects, he has seen the inner workings of the UN during the post Cold War era.
In January 2001, he was appointed by the Secretary-General as interim head of the Dept. of Public Information. On 1 June 2002, he was confirmed as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations.
Reasons of State (1982), a scholarly study of Indian foreign policy; The Great Indian Novel (1989), a political satire; The Five-Dollar Smile & Other Stories (1990); a second novel, Show Business (1992), which received a front-page accolade from The New York Times Book Review and was made into a motion picture titled Bollywood; and India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997), published on the 50th anniversary of India’s independence are some of his books that brought him fame and name.
Shashi Tharoor is the winner of numerous journalism and literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1991. In 1998, Shashi Tharoor was awarded the Excelsior Award for excellence in literature by the Association of Indians in America (AIA) and the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP). He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound in May 2000.
In January 1998, he was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a Global Leader of Tomorrow.
Name of Source: Asian Tribune