Why India wants its ICJ candidate Dalveer Bhandari to win today: 7 points

* Analysts say the election is crucial for India, as it is a litmus test for the support it enjoys in the world body where New Delhi has been campaigning for reforms, including for a permanent seat in the powerful UN Security Council .

* A win for Bhandari will also be a measure of the backing that India enjoys in the UN General Assembly, said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, to PTI.

* "There is an element of prestige to have an Indian elected to such a position," said Shashi Tharoor, Congress party MP and former UN undersecretary general. Taking to Twitter to support Bhandari, Tharoor said, "India is a country of consequence and weight in the world."

* Bhandari's election is also important because India, earlier this year, took Pakistan to the ICJ to seek consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been in Pakistani custody over allegations of being an "Indian spy". The final judgment on that will be delivered in December. Pakistan has recently appointed an ad-hoc judge to the ICJ for the case. If Bhandari loses, India will be without its own judge in the court. Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court.

* Bhandari's opponent in voting for the last seat at the ICJ is Britain's Christopher Greenwood. The contest pitches a declining UK and a rising India in a high-voltage diplomatic battle. It demonstrates the inexorable shift of power to countries like India and the extreme reluctance of the ancien regime to accept the change. The world is watching.

* Congress MP Tharoor - an alumnus of the UN system - says the election is no longer about the judge or the country she hails from, but about the UN General Assembly standing up against a member of a privileged club who has lost comprehensively among the members at large but still leads 9-6 in the Security Council. What he's referring to is the fact that in successive rounds of elections spread over two days in the last two weeks, Bhandari, 70, enjoyed nearly two- third majority in the 193-member General Assembly. Greenwood, 62, received nine votes as against six by Bhandari in the Security Council. As per ICJ rules, the candidates need to gain a majority in both the General assembly and Security Council to be declared elected.

* Also at stake for India and the world is the fact this contest is ultimately about the idea of justice, of equality and fairness. "It is about the future we envisage for the United Nations and the conduct of multilateralism. The time for reform is now. I call on SC members to vote for India's candidate," said Tharoor.

(With inputs from PTI)
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