New Delhi, Nov 8 (UNI) The UN General Assembly and the Security Council will hold separate ballots on Thursday to elect five judges of the International Court of Justice in which India's Dalveer Bhandari is seeking re-election.
Bhandari, 69, was elected to the Hague-based court in 2012. His current term ends in February 2018. He is now running for a full nine-year term.
In recent weeks, the Indian government has intensified efforts to ensure Bhandari's re-election. The lobbying has taken place at the highest levels, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the effort in his diplomatic interactions.
Last month, the Indian Mission at the UN held a reception for Bhandari to meet the delegates who will be voting in the election.
If Bhandari gets elected, he will be part of the ICJ bench that would decide the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military tribunal.
A native of Rajasthan, Bhandari has been a Supreme Court judge and the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
There are seven candidates for the judgeships this year. The five candidates who each get a majority of the votes in the Assembly and the Council will assume office next February.
The permanent members of the Council cannot veto a candidate.
Established in 1945, the ICJ – which is also known as the World Court – settles legal disputes between nations and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorised UN organs.
UNI SRJ RSA 1646