UK and India are locked in a bitter battle over the appointment of a judge in&nbsp;the International Court of Justice(ICJ) with India accusing Theresa May&#39;s government of&nbsp; &quot;misusing&quot;&nbsp;UN Security Council membership by pushing for a joint conference mechanism.

India&#39;s Dalveer Bhandari is the&nbsp;front-runner, with nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly supporting him but the UK is threatening to use its power as the permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to end the process of voting.&nbsp;

The UK government instead plans&nbsp;to implement a mechanism of Joint Conference, comprising three members each from the United Nations General Assembly(GA) and Security&nbsp;Council&nbsp;as a substitute to voting which has never been used earlier over the appointment of judges to the world court.

While speaking to WION Shashi Tharoor explained this complicated&nbsp;ICJ standoff.&nbsp;

&quot;The matter further complicates by the fact Greenwood is an English British and Britain being the permanent member&nbsp;there and obviously have an opportunity to lobby effectively for him with the other members of the security council.&quot;&nbsp;

Watch the entire video here

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Tharoor added that &quot;we need to do an effective job in either persuading the brits to step down or persuading any one or two members of the security council to stop&nbsp;their stubborn support to the British&quot;&nbsp;

One-third of the court&#39;s 15-member bench is elected every three years for a nine-year term, elections for which are held separately but simultaneously in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council in New York.

In all previous incidents, the candidate getting the majority in the General Assembly has eventually been elected a judge of&nbsp;International Court of Justice. Greenwood, who has already served one nine-year term in ICJ, is trailing behind more than 50 votes in the General Assembly. However, he received nine against five for Mr Bhandari in the Security Council.

To win ICJ election, a candidate needs to get the majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, which has not been the case in the 11 rounds of voting so far.

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Nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly are supporting India's Dalveer Bhandari

UK and India are locked in a bitter battle over the appointment of a judge in the International Court of Justice(ICJ) with India accusing Theresa May's government of "misusing" UN Security Council membership by pushing for a joint conference mechanism. India's Dalveer Bhandari is the front-runner, with nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly supporting him but the UK is threatening to use its power as the permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to end the process of voting. The UK government instead plans to implement a mechanism of Joint Conference, comprising three members each from the United Nations General Assembly(GA) and Security Council as a substitute to voting which has never been used earlier over the appointment of judges to the world court. While speaking to WION Shashi Tharoor explained this complicated ICJ standoff. "The matter further complicates by the fact Greenwood is an English British and Britain being the permanent member there and obviously have an opportunity to lobby effectively for him with the other members of the security council." Watch the entire video here × Tharoor added that "we need to do an effective job in either persuading the brits to step down or persuading any one or two members of the security council to stop their stubborn support to the British" One-third of the court's 15-member bench is elected every three years for a nine-year term, elections for which are held separately but simultaneously in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council in New York. In all previous incidents, the candidate getting the majority in the General Assembly has eventually been elected a judge of International Court of Justice. Greenwood, who has already served one nine-year term in ICJ, is trailing behind more than 50 votes in the General Assembly. However, he received nine against five for Mr Bhandari in the Security Council. To win ICJ election, a candidate needs to get the majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, which has not been the case in the 11 rounds of voting so far.

Britain obviously has an opportunity to lobby for Greenwood with other UN members: Shashi Tharoor to WION

The permanent members of the UN Security Council are &#39;unnerved&#39; by the prospect of India&#39;s nominee Dalveer Bhandari winning against Britain&#39;s candidate in the election to the last seat of the World Court as it would set a precedent that may challenge their power in the future, observers here feel.

Bhandari and Britain&#39;s Christopher Greenwood are locked in a neck-and-neck fight for re-election to the Hague-based International Court of Justice, the sources say.

The permanent members of the Security Council -- the US, Russia, France, and China -- appeared to have rallied behind Greenwood. Britain is the fifth permanent member of the Security Council.

In the 11 rounds of an election so far, Bhandari has been receiving the support of nearly two-thirds of the members of the General Assembly but is trailing by three votes against Greenwood in the Security Council.

The 12th round of elections has been scheduled for Monday.

Britain on Friday in an informal consultation of the UN Security Council members mooted the idea of joint conference mechanism as it feels that this could be their only face-saving exit strategy, informed sources said.

As shared with other members of the Security Council during informal consultations, Britain would prefer to stop voting on the ICJ elections&nbsp;after the first round as it fears that otherwise, India could well cross the two-thirds mark. In that scenario, it would be very difficult for the UN Security Council stop India&#39;s candidate from being elected to the ICJ.

However, the prospect of India winning against a P5 member through democratic means is something that this elite club of veto-wielding countries - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - are unnerved with, because this would set a precedent that they do not want to be repeated.

&quot;Today it is Britain, tomorrow it could be any one of us&quot; is the argument which has brought all these five countries together, sources say.

&quot;If the one (of the P5) is going to be knocked off today, the other fear that they might be knocked off tomorrow,&quot; according to a source.

Such an assessment of the UN insiders is based on informed sources, as voting for the ICJ election in both the Security Council and the General Assembly are based on secret ballots and there is no way to know who voted for whom.

In all the rounds of the election so far, Greenwood has consistently got nine votes and Bhandari five in the Security Council. It is likely that on Monday India might increase its tally.

It is understood that both New Delhi and Permanent Mission of India to the UN have been working overtime to convince the members of the Security Council on the need to go by the voice of the majority of the General Assembly.

But by Sunday evening it appeared that Britain was ready to execute its plan, as per which after the first round of voting they would call for a meeting of the Security Council and would seek a mandate to stop any further round of voting, and would call for adoption of joint conference mechanism, which was last adopted in 1921.

However, this might come as a silver lining for India, sources said.

This is because the Security Council vote to stop further rounds of the ICJ election would be open and not through a secret ballot.

As a result, countries, many of whom have been pledging friendship with India but secretly voting against its candidate would be exposed in the open of raising their hands against India. This is something that members of the Security Council would avoid.

Of the Permanent Five members, the US under President Donald Trump has just come out a 100-year plan of friendship with India and renamed Asia-Pacific and the Indo-Pacific region.

Incidentally, hours before the ICJ election, Trump would be meeting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at the White House.

It is not sure if Trump plans to weigh in on this issue in favor of India.

Trump has repeatedly called himself as the &quot;best friend of India and Indian Americans&quot; in the White House.

Russia is an all-weather tested friend of India. Over the past several decades, France has emerged as a reliable friend of India.

The stand of China on a lot of issues is well known including India&#39;s membership to the Security Council and Beijing vetoing a move to designate Azhar Masood as a global terrorist by the UN.

So, it would be quite a surprise, if China favored an Indian candidate.

&quot;When chips are down, you always get support from developing countries,&quot; commented one India watcher at the UN.

The voting in the General Assembly which overwhelmingly favors India is reflective of the new global order, which is not pleasant to the world powers.

Despite best of the British effort, their vote tally in the General Assembly has decreased with every other round of voting.

India's nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood are locked in a neck-and-neck fight for re-election to the Hague-based International Court of Justice

The permanent members of the UN Security Council are 'unnerved' by the prospect of India's nominee Dalveer Bhandari winning against Britain's candidate in the election to the last seat of the World Court as it would set a precedent that may challenge their power in the future, observers here feel. Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood are locked in a neck-and-neck fight for re-election to the Hague-based International Court of Justice, the sources say. The permanent members of the Security Council -- the US, Russia, France, and China -- appeared to have rallied behind Greenwood. Britain is the fifth permanent member of the Security Council. In the 11 rounds of an election so far, Bhandari has been receiving the support of nearly two-thirds of the members of the General Assembly but is trailing by three votes against Greenwood in the Security Council. The 12th round of elections has been scheduled for Monday. Britain on Friday in an informal consultation of the UN Security Council members mooted the idea of joint conference mechanism as it feels that this could be their only face-saving exit strategy, informed sources said. As shared with other members of the Security Council during informal consultations, Britain would prefer to stop voting on the ICJ elections after the first round as it fears that otherwise, India could well cross the two-thirds mark. In that scenario, it would be very difficult for the UN Security Council stop India's candidate from being elected to the ICJ. However, the prospect of India winning against a P5 member through democratic means is something that this elite club of veto-wielding countries - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - are unnerved with, because this would set a precedent that they do not want to be repeated. "Today it is Britain, tomorrow it could be any one of us" is the argument which has brought all these five countries together, sources say. "If the one (of the P5) is going to be knocked off today, the other fear that they might be knocked off tomorrow," according to a source. Such an assessment of the UN insiders is based on informed sources, as voting for the ICJ election in both the Security Council and the General Assembly are based on secret ballots and there is no way to know who voted for whom. In all the rounds of the election so far, Greenwood has consistently got nine votes and Bhandari five in the Security Council. It is likely that on Monday India might increase its tally. It is understood that both New Delhi and Permanent Mission of India to the UN have been working overtime to convince the members of the Security Council on the need to go by the voice of the majority of the General Assembly. But by Sunday evening it appeared that Britain was ready to execute its plan, as per which after the first round of voting they would call for a meeting of the Security Council and would seek a mandate to stop any further round of voting, and would call for adoption of joint conference mechanism, which was last adopted in 1921. However, this might come as a silver lining for India, sources said. This is because the Security Council vote to stop further rounds of the ICJ election would be open and not through a secret ballot. As a result, countries, many of whom have been pledging friendship with India but secretly voting against its candidate would be exposed in the open of raising their hands against India. This is something that members of the Security Council would avoid. Of the Permanent Five members, the US under President Donald Trump has just come out a 100-year plan of friendship with India and renamed Asia-Pacific and the Indo-Pacific region. Incidentally, hours before the ICJ election, Trump would be meeting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at the White House. It is not sure if Trump plans to weigh in on this issue in favor of India. Trump has repeatedly called himself as the "best friend of India and Indian Americans" in the White House. Russia is an all-weather tested friend of India. Over the past several decades, France has emerged as a reliable friend of India. The stand of China on a lot of issues is well known including India's membership to the Security Council and Beijing vetoing a move to designate Azhar Masood as a global terrorist by the UN. So, it would be quite a surprise, if China favored an Indian candidate. "When chips are down, you always get support from developing countries," commented one India watcher at the UN. The voting in the General Assembly which overwhelmingly favors India is reflective of the new global order, which is not pleasant to the world powers. Despite best of the British effort, their vote tally in the General Assembly has decreased with every other round of voting.

UNSC permanent members unnerved by prospect of India's nominee winning ICJ election: Observers

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Britain obviously has an opportunity to lobby for Greenwood with other UN members: Shashi Tharoor to WION

UNSC permanent members unnerved by prospect of India's nominee winning ICJ election: Observers