External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s telephone has not stopped ringing since Tuesday morning with leaders from world over calling her up to congratulate for the re-election of Judge Dalveer Bhandari to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She, in the last few days, had made more than 60 telephone calls to her counterparts in the various parts of the world. Besides, Swaraj had spoken to several world
leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during her visit in September for their
support.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had touched based with several of his counterparts and spoken to them seeking support for Bhandari’s candidature at the UN where he was in direct contest with United Kingdom’s Christopher Greenwood, after 12 rounds of voting. The two Ministers of State in MEA had travelled to several countries and contacted the world leaders for their support.
It took a multi-pronged strategy, a well-coordinated and a concerted effort by the Indian government to achieve the re-election of Bhandari to the ICJ. The Indian Government had in fact started working long time back to ensure Bhandari makes it to ICJ. They were also prepared for the last minute tense moments which is why the Government worked at three levels to keep the momentum.
On one side was the efforts made by the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi who kept in touch with the ambassadors posted here.
On the other hand, Indian ambassadors posted in the embassies world over remained in direct contact with the respective Government and got their commitments for votes. And on the third side was the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations, led by Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, which lobbied hard to achieve the desired results despite all odds.
This multi-pronged strategy worked well and India managed to see Bhandari re-elected in the ICJ. Gauging the mood and momentum at the United Nations, the UK withdrew the candidature of Greenwood to make things easier for India. Both candidates were locked in a neck-and-neck fight after 12 rounds. This was the first time a P-5 country had faced direct contest with a non permanent member country. This was also the first time the P5 nation had faced so many hurdles and the going was not smooth for them.
The result showed the mood of the General Assembly that prevailed over United Nations Security Council as India’s support was cutting across the globe. India’s support came cutting across ASEAN, the Organisation of Islamic Countries, etc. The result exposed the vulnerability in the P5 and the growing mood in the General Assembly for reforms in the UNSC.