UNITED NATIONS, June 18: Indian diplomats working at the country’s mission in New York are unhappy at New Delhi’s decision to sponsor Shashi Tharoor, the Undersecretary-General of Information at the UN, as its candidate for the top post at the world body, well-informed sources told Dawn on Saturday.

They say that Mr Tharoor’s candidacy will surely undermine India’s bid for the permanent seat on the UN Security Council. They were unhappy that the decision was made in New Delhi without consulting them.

But the Indian government has entrusted its envoy to the United Nations, Nirupan Sen, to spearhead Mr Tharoor’s bid.

According to reports Mr Sen anticipates opposition from some permanent members of the Security Council, especially the United States and China, without whose approval the candidature cannot move forward.

Another issue which continues to retard Mr Tharoor’s candidacy is the fact that he is the UN media chief, an insider, with a lot of clout and authority. He is being asked to step down from his job or go on a “leave of absence”, as many diplomats and UN officials say that there is an element of conflict of interests in his candidature.

A candidate is selected or chosen by the 15-member UN Security Council, in which the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States — wield veto powers. A candidate has to have at least majority vote (i.e., nine) and no veto. Following his selection by the council, his or her name is then recommended to the 191-member UN General Assembly for approval.

In an interview with an Indian website reporter in New York, New Delhi’s envoy Sen has already started talking to diplomats of other countries about supporting Mr Tharoor. In fact the news broke in New York when an ambassador with whom Mr Sen had lobbied disclosed it. Moreover, Mr Sen also informed a meeting of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that India was putting up Mr Shashi Tharoor as its candidate for the top slot of the world body.

But when Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, suggested at a press briefing that Mr Tharoor’s candidature sends out a “strong message” that India is actually giving up its bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, Mr Sen bristled and said: “Pakistan, as you know, is a member of the Coffee Club, or as they now describe themselves, the Uniting for Consensus club. They would quite naturally read such a message even if there is no such message.

And quite clearly, there isn’t such a message because I don’t think the two are related because we are not yet permanent member, so, we have every right to put forward our candidate.” Japan, which believes that India’s decision to field Mr Tharoor has broken the so-called G-4 group, is also considering its options.

But the fact is that most diplomats here say that by putting Mr Tharoor as its candidates India has forfeited its right to seek a permanent seat on the Security Council.

“This is an unwritten principle which all permanent members adhere to,” noted one Western diplomat, adding: “If that were not the case then the former US president Bill Clinton would have been one of the aspirants.”