New York: India’s nominee to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Justice Dalveer Bhandari was on Monday re-elected to the last seat of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after Britain withdrew its candidate Christopher Greenwood from the election.
Justice Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the United Nations General Assembly and secured all 15 votes in the Security Council after separate and simultaneous elections were held at the UN headquarters in New York.
This will be the first time since the ICJ was established in 1945 that there will be no British judge.
The UNGA and Security Council members had elected judges to four of the five seats up for re-election on November 9, with the fate of the candidates from India and Britain hanging in the balance.
Britain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft, earlier in a statement, had informed that Britain would withdraw Greenwood as a candidate for re-election.
“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 was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Rycroft, on behalf of Britain, congratulated the successful candidates, including Judge Bhandari.
“We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates,” Rycroft said, reported PTI.
“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 added.
Congratulating Justice Bhandari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, “Vande Matram — India wins election to the International Court of Justice. JaiHind. #ICJ.”
Post Comments
| Quick links