Pm modi should pitch sushma swaraj for top un job in 2017

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIA The current process is quite nebulous and a closed-door exercise wherein the General Assembly appoints the Secretary General on the recommendation of the

Security Council. This process is set to change now as per last week’s resolution thrashed out by the Working Group on Revitalisation of the General Assembly. Now that the governments are to

be invited to nominate women for the top UN job, it presents India with a whale of an opportunity to take the lead and nominate Sushma Swaraj. Everyone will agree that the UN Secretary

General-ship would be an important feather in India’s cap. India will be struck with a ‘been there, done that’ kind of feeling remembering the UPA-1 government when it fielded Shashi Tharoor

as a candidate for the UNSG post in 2006. Almost a decade later, the political graph and importance of India in the world community has risen substantially. The time has come for India to

throw its hat in the ring for the top UN job. After all, India’s engagement with the world has gone up significantly both in terms of intensity and scale. India has now been engaging not

only with leading world bodies like ASEAN, EU, G20 and G8 but has also stepped up engagement with bit players like the Pacific Island countries. Next month, India is to host the entire

African continent of 54 countries for a bilateral summit.