In a close fought contest between India’s candidate Dalveer Bhandari & UK’s Greenwood for the post of ICJ. Where India was pushing hard for its candidate and Britain was leaving no stone unturned to corner India’s bid. At one point UK seemed so much desperate that its seen to be pushing for a joint conference mechanism, never resorted to since the UN was established and only once before that.
A joint conference would’ve involved picking three countries each from the the UNGA and the UNSC, which would then choose one candidate. Critics had warned that such a move would be “dirty politics” and other members of the powerful UN Security Council were reportedly uneasy, aware of the long-term implications of a move to ignore the voice of the majority of the United Nations General Assembly.
Looking itself at an embracing situation finally, U.K withdraws its candidature and after its withdrwal, it has become clear that There will not be a British judge on the UN’s most powerful court for the first time in its history. This is one the most historic moment for the ICJ and India’s diplomatic victory.
Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council, this was huge and thus Prime minister Narendra Modi has praised the effort of MEA Sushma Swaraj and Sayeed Akarbaruddin along with other MEA official.
After the victory of Bandhari, an over joyed Akbaruddin said ” a huge diplomatic effort had gone into electing Bhandari to the world court. “There was a crucial meet before the vote. We put forward our view and stuck to it. It was apparent that vote will be in our favor. We are grateful that the UK judge recused and recognized that the Indian judge was doing good in UNGA,” he said in New York.
MEA Sushma Swaraj also praised MEA officials by tweeting “Congratulations to Justice Dalveer Bhandari on his re-election as a Judge of the ICJ. Huge efforts by Team – MEA. Syed Akbaruddin, our Permanent Representative in UN deserves a special mention,”
Bhandari’s election upsets what has become a traditional balance in the ICJ. Besides a permanent member going unrepresented, four Asian countries will be represented on the ICJ bench instead of the usual three.
Three incumbent judges of the ICJ — President Ronny Abraham of France, Vice President, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, and Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil – were elected along with Salam in the first four rounds of voting on November 9.
Bhandari and the others elected will start their term in February next year.
