Last updated on: November 21, 2017 08:10 IST
Justice Bhandari and Britain’s Christopher Greenwood were locked in a neck-and-neck fight seeking re-election for the nine-year term.
IMAGE: United Nations Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin congratulating Justice Dalveer Bhandari (left) after he was re-elected to the International Court of Justice. Photograph: Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia
India’s nominee to the International Court of Justice Dalveer Bhandari was on Tuesday re-elected to the last seat of the world court after Britain withdrew its candidate from the election.
Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council after separate and simultaneous elections were held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The elections were held after United Kingdom, in a dramatic turn of events, withdrew out of the race for the Hague-based ICJ, thus paving the way for Bhandari’s re-election to the prestigious world court.
Bhandari and Britain’s Christopher Greenwood were locked in a neck-and-neck fight for re-election to the ICJ.
The permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Russia, France and China -- were understood to have been throwing their weight behind Greenwood. Britain is the fifth permanent member of the Security Council.
In a dramatic turn of events, the British Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, wrote identical letters to the presidents of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, before the two chambers were scheduled to meet at 3 pm (local time) for the 12th round of voting.
Read out simultaneously by both the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council, Rycroft said that its candidate Judge Christopher Greenwood had decided to withdraw from the election to the 15-membered ICJ. He along with Bhandari were seeking re-election for the nine-year term.
In the 11 rounds of voting, Bhandari had got nearly two-thirds of the votes in the General Assembly and in Security Council Greenwood consistently received nine votes as against five for his opponent. This resulted in a stalemate.
As per the letter read out simultaneously in the General Assembly and the Security Council, Rycroft said the current deadlock is unlikely to be broken by further rounds of voting.
As such he announced withdrawal from the race. With Bhandari being the only candidate left in the race, the General Assembly and Security Council still went through the formal motion of voting to complete the formalities.
The voting in the General Assembly which overwhelmingly favours India is reflective of the new global order, which is not pleasant to the world powers.
India has been seeking that the democratic process need to be played its full course in both the Security Council and the General Assembly and there should not be an intervention or adoption of a process that has never been used before or the one that undermines the voice of the majority.
Pleased to see ‘close friend’ India win: UK
Britain has congratulated Justice Dalveer Bhandari on being re-elected to the International Court of Justice and said it will continue to cooperate closely with India at the United Nations and globally.
Britain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft, in a statement said it decided to withdraw Sir Chris Greenwood as a candidate for re-election as a Judge of the International Court of Justice.
“The UK has concluded that it is wrong to continue to take up the valuable time of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly with further rounds of elections,” he said.
Britain, he said, congratulates the successful candidates, including Judge Bhandari of India.
“We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates,” Rycroft said.
“If the UK could not win in this run-off, then we are pleased that it is a close friend like India that has done so instead. We will continue to cooperate closely with India,
here in the United Nations and globally,” he said.
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