New Delhi
16 June 2006
"I believe that reform and change are essential for the UN. Mahatma Gandhi put it best: "you must be the change you wish to see in the world." What is true for individuals is true also for institutions. If the UN wants to change the world, we must change too," he told this newspaper from New York. Mr Shashi Tharoor is Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information at the UN.
"The UN has a lot of accomplishments, but it needs reform not because it has failed, but because it has achieved enough to prove that it's worth investing in. It is not just a question of having the money -- it is also having the political will of the countries to work effectively and in concert with each other within the UN," he observed barely hours after New Delhi picked him for the top UN job.
Sharing his thoughts on becoming only the first Indian to be nominated, he says: "Yes, but don't forget that Mrs Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Sir BN Rau were serious contenders to succeed Trygve Lie in 1953, even if they were not formally nominated by India." He envisions a UN that is "more nimble, more flexible, more efficient and more effective in facing the problems of the 21st century."
"It is a great privilege to stand as an Indian before the world and say, "I am ready. An Indian is ready to take on this challenge." I think it is a measure of how far our country has come, and I am both inspired and humbled by the opportunity," he adds. "I have been with the UN since the age of 22, I have worked with the body for 28 years now, and I know its potential and its possibilities."
On the task ahead for him, Mr Tharoor says, "I have a strong sense from the inside of the major issues the UN has to deal with, and I am passionately committed to the institution. So as far as I am concerned, I have so much personal stake in the success of the UN that I feel greatly honoured to be given an opportunity to lead it." He says New Delhi informed him about his nomination "just two days ago."
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