India to push Tharoor's case at NAM
The 14th NAM summit will see some focused lobbying by New Delhi to push Tharoor's candidature for UNSG's post.
India is set to further intensify diplomatic efforts to push Shashi Tharoor's candidature for the post of UN secretary-general and impart a new momentum to its pursuit of a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Havana next week, which will be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will see some focused lobbying by New Delhi to push Tharoor's candidature, a senior official said.
"We have a major opportunity in the NAM summit. Every opportunity will be used to mobilise support for the Indian candidate for the UNSG (UN Secretary-General)," the official said.
"We support the principle that the next UN secretary-general should be from Asia. We are trying our best to reach out to the maximum number of countries to garner support for the Indian candidate," he stressed.
Tharoor kicked off his campaign for the UN's top job at the African Union summit at Banjul in Ghana over two months ago. Since then, he has been travelling to different countries to garner support.
New Delhi has sent several envoys to various countries to advance Tharoor's campaign.
India has also accelerated its efforts to push forward the reform of the UN, including the reform of the UN Security Council.
The 61st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to be held in New York later this month is sure to see concentrated efforts by India to impart fresh energy and dynamism to comprehensive restructuring of the Security Council and other UN reforms.
"This is a good opportunity to focus on the expansion of the UN Security Council and revitalisation of the UN General Assembly," the official said.
"We hope that the forthcoming session of the UNGA will take this process forward, stimulate negotiations and contribute to early and urgent action in this regard," the official added.
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