UN Under Sec Gen Shashi Tharoor to visit India

New Delhi, Jun 17: Shashi Tharoor, United Nations Under Secretary General and India's nominee for the post of the Secretary General, will arrive here tomorrow night on a three-day visit for discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders.

This will be his first visit to India after New Delhi announced its decision to nominate Mr Tharoor for the Secretary General's post which is falling vacant on December 31 following the expiry of the term of the present head of the world body, Mr Kofi Annan.

Sources said Mr Tharoor is likely to meet the Prime Minister during is three-day visit here.

If elected, Mr Tharoor, an accalimed writer, will be the first Indian to occupy the post.

The election process will begin in July and the outcome of the election will be known in October.

The new Secretary General will start working from January one, 2007.

Three other candidates--Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon and Sri Lanka's Jayanta Dharmapala, who has earlier served as Under Secretary General at the UN--are also in the race for the top job at the UN.

UNI

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