By Arun Kumar

Washington, Aug 17 (IANS) Shashi Tharoor, India's nominee and a 
leading contender for the post of United Nations 
secretary-general, says if elected his first priority would be to 
ensure that the world body is ready to tackle the problems of the 
21st century.

The new emerging threats like drug trafficking, terrorism and 
refugee movement were problems that cross all frontiers and 
required solutions that also cross all frontiers, he said during a 
Skypecast - a conference call - organised by the South Asian 
Journalists Association (SAJA) Thursday.

One must have a great sense of reform not because the UN has 
failed, but because it has achieved enough to be investing in the 
future, said Tharoor, who is currently UN Undersecretary-General 
for Communications and Public Information.

"So I will be leading and continuing some of the achievements that 
are there and try to take them further forward," he said noting 
that the UN is an organisation that has to move on all the fronts 
simultaneously.

Tharoor did not think that his election should come in the way of 
India's quest for permanent membership of the UN Security Council 
as they were two separate issues, but essentially that was a 
judgement for India to make.

He for one had made it clear that if elected "I will be an Indian 
secretary-general and not India's secretary-general".

Secondly, the convention against having a secretary-general from 
the permanent member nations was based on the premise that no one 
country should have the power to initiate and stop an action.

But as India has agreed to forego the veto power for 15 years on 
becoming a permanent member of the Security Council, the new 
secretary-general is not going to face a veto wielding India, he said.

A lot has to be done, said Tharoor identifying his tasks as 
strengthening UN's operational capacity, building its approval 
record in responding to crises and management issues to ensure 
accountability and transparency.

Mahatma Gandhi, he recalled, once said you must be the change you 
wish to see in the world. "The fact is what is true for individuals also 
applies to institutions. So if you want to change the world, you must 
change the tools."

Tharoor asserted that he is the right person to take up the top UN 
job because of his deep devotion to the world body, his work in the 
secretary-general's own office with a record of reforms to stand 
on.

As an insider, he had the skills and experience of 28 years to bring 
about meaningful change, he said suggesting the old adage that a 
new broom sweeps better does not work in the case of a body like 
the UN. Here an old broom can sweep cleaner as the learning curve 
for an outsider would be more steep.

Asked how different his tenure would be, Tharoor said the main 
difference would not be ideology but management processes. He 
also hoped to build upon his work on issues of human rights.

On issues relating to freedom of religion in some countries, he said 
no secretary general can tell member nations how to handle their 
internal affairs but he would lend his voice to increasing tolerance 
by reaching out to the media.

Tharoor, who came a close second to South Korean Foreign Minister 
Ban Ki-Moon in last month's first informal straw poll in the 
15-member Security Council, said he was running around the world 
to garner support for his candidature as he had joined the race late.

As the UN secretary general is appointed by the UN General 
Assembly on the recommendation of the Security council, the 
campaign essentially involved trying to persuade the 15 members to 
support, and persuade the five permanent members not to veto his 
candidature.

There is no timetable for election except that a person to succeed 
incumbent Kofi Annan must be selected before he retires Dec 31 
after completing two terms. Annan himself was named as late as Dec 
13. But Tharoor expected the Security Council to act sooner than 
that this time, possibly by September-October.

But, he does not have a Plan B and if this does not work out he'll 
have to think what to do next.

Asked why Asia believed its turn has arrived to provide the world's 
top diplomat, Tharoor said there was no written rule, but it was 
generally believed that in a body representing 192 nations, the job 
should go to different regions.

Asia has not held the job since U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) 
retired in 1971. He was elevated after secretary-general Dag 
Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in September 1961.