New Delhi: India’s Dalveer Bhandari got elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) panel of judges after UK withdrew its candidate. There was an overwhelming support in the UN General Assembly (GA) for the Indian judge.
This will be the first time in the 71-year-old history of ICJ that there will be no British judge in the ‘world court’.
Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the UNGA and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council after separate and simultaneous elections were held at the UN headquarters in New York. India’s victory came after Britain’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, in a statement said that the UK had decided to withdraw Sir Christopher Greenwood as a candidate for re-election as a Judge of the ICJ.
The Guardian has described Greenwood’s defeat as a humiliating blow to British international prestige and an acceptance of its diminished status in world affairs.
Many Commonwealth countries sided with India to rally against the Security Council’s continued predominance in carrying out world affairs.
After pulling out of the race, Britain congratulated Justice Dalveer Bhandari on being re-elected to the ICJ and said it would continue to cooperate closely with India at the UN and globally.
“We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates,” Rycroft said, adding, “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.”
Justice Bhandari was first elected as a judge at the International Court of Justice in 2012, after a gap of over two decades. He obtained 122 votes at the UN General Assembly and 13 votes in the 15-nation Security Council against his Filipino rival Justice Florentino Feliciano, who received just 58 votes. His term will continue till 2018.
The election of Bhandari to the ICJ is a major diplomatic victory for India.