New Delhi
22 June 2006
Washington's lukewarm reaction to Shashi Tharoor's nomination for
the post of United Nations Secretary General would have come as a dampener for New
Delhi. Notwithstanding the fear of likely concessions Beijing may extract in return for
endorsing its nominee's candidacy, New Delhi was anticipating a generous response
from a majority of the P-5 nations in general and the United States in particular.
United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns has indicated
that Washington was not willing to make a commitment just yet. "Our administration has
not yet made a decision on whom we will support to succeed Secretary General Kofi
Annan. But we certainly hold Shashi Tharoor in greatest regard and I look forward to
meeting him in my office," he told reporters in Washington. "I don't think President Bush
will make this decision until much further into the process," he hastened to add.
Burns declined to comment on the fact that Tharoor is an "insider" on the ground that it
will not be fair to other candidates currently running for the position or have made broad
indications to that effect. "I don't want to make any specific comment because that would
not be fair to all the other candidates out there. This is a decision President Bush will
make. It is too early for us to make a commitment but we certainly respect Mr Tharoor
and I look forward to meeting him in a couple of weeks," Burns said.
Last week New Delhi said it has taken up the issue of seeking support for the
candidature of Dr Tharoor through diplomatic channels with all member countries of the
UN. "I do not have feedback from individual countries. Certainly, our missions are
actively seeking support of the member countries of the UN," the spokesman of the
Ministry of External Affairs said when asked about whether ther had been any discussion
with any member of the P-5 in advance and about feedback from China.
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