NEW DELHI: India beat China fair and square in a rare direct fight for a key post in the UN, signalling that for all the display of Chinese hard power, India retains a fair bit of international clout. India will now serve a five-year term in the Joint Inspection Unit, the UN's only external oversight body, defeating China in a straight contest in the UN General Assembly on Monday. India's candidate A Gopinathan, envoy to the UN in Geneva, convincingly defeated the Chinese candidate, Zhang Yan, China's envoy to New Delhi, winning 106 votes against Zhang's 77. China has held the post for the past 10 years. India will get the post after 35 years.
The vote was a shot in the arm for India's multilateral diplomacy, but more specifically, for India's UN diplomats, particularly the UN mission in New York under Hardeep Puri. India had put a well-oiled election and lobbying machine to work, told all its heads of missions to go all out to pitch for its candidate and demarched other missions at least three times. Gopinathan is one of India's finest diplomats and he enjoys a great deal of support within the cadre. "It was a lot of hard work, but we did it," Puri said. According to Indian diplomats, the significance of the vote is that for the first time, India challenged a post considered a pocket borough by a P-5 member, and won. The US candidate on the JIU was replaced by an American and the Russian by a Russian. India, quite inadvertently, has shown that P-5 countries cannot always corner plum posts by virtue of their status. "All posts should be up for grabs," said an official.
Most important, Indian officials were at pains to clarify that they initially had not sought a battle with China. "After 10 years, we did not think China would put up a candidate." But they did. They also asked the Indians to step down. Indian officials at the helm of affairs in MEA would have quietly withdrawn if China hadn't got all self-righteous. Then they decided to fight back -- successfully. Puri observed, "We should shed our risk averse approach." India's biggest pitch, a permanent post in the UNSC, is still to happen.
Zhang Yan is one of China's most experienced diplomats and has held a tough job for the past few years. Known to be well-connected to the Communist Party elite, Zhang received strong endorsement from the Chinese foreign ministry. While the post may not have the stature of a secretary-general, it is nevertheless important, certainly for India. China, being a P-5 member, can afford to be more blase about it. India's strength lay in its lobbying capacity -- having had to fight elections for all multilateral posts, Indian diplomats have honed their skills at the craft. Besides, Gopi, as he is known in the service, is one of their own. Unlike Shashi Tharoor, who, as candidate for UN secretary general received only lukewarm response from MEA mandarins, Gopinathan could call upon the collective bargaining power of the Indian diplomatic elite.
The vote was a shot in the arm for India's multilateral diplomacy, but more specifically, for India's UN diplomats, particularly the UN mission in New York under Hardeep Puri. India had put a well-oiled election and lobbying machine to work, told all its heads of missions to go all out to pitch for its candidate and demarched other missions at least three times. Gopinathan is one of India's finest diplomats and he enjoys a great deal of support within the cadre. "It was a lot of hard work, but we did it," Puri said. According to Indian diplomats, the significance of the vote is that for the first time, India challenged a post considered a pocket borough by a P-5 member, and won. The US candidate on the JIU was replaced by an American and the Russian by a Russian. India, quite inadvertently, has shown that P-5 countries cannot always corner plum posts by virtue of their status. "All posts should be up for grabs," said an official.
Most important, Indian officials were at pains to clarify that they initially had not sought a battle with China. "After 10 years, we did not think China would put up a candidate." But they did. They also asked the Indians to step down. Indian officials at the helm of affairs in MEA would have quietly withdrawn if China hadn't got all self-righteous. Then they decided to fight back -- successfully. Puri observed, "We should shed our risk averse approach." India's biggest pitch, a permanent post in the UNSC, is still to happen.
Zhang Yan is one of China's most experienced diplomats and has held a tough job for the past few years. Known to be well-connected to the Communist Party elite, Zhang received strong endorsement from the Chinese foreign ministry. While the post may not have the stature of a secretary-general, it is nevertheless important, certainly for India. China, being a P-5 member, can afford to be more blase about it. India's strength lay in its lobbying capacity -- having had to fight elections for all multilateral posts, Indian diplomats have honed their skills at the craft. Besides, Gopi, as he is known in the service, is one of their own. Unlike Shashi Tharoor, who, as candidate for UN secretary general received only lukewarm response from MEA mandarins, Gopinathan could call upon the collective bargaining power of the Indian diplomatic elite.