My track record brightens my prospects, says Tharoor

New Delhi, June 20 (UNI) Acknowledging that getting elected to head the United Nations was a tough task, Mr Shashi Tharoor, India's first ever nominee for the top post today said his track record as Under-Secretary General in the UN gave him a reasonable chance of succeeding.

''I have worked in a number of fields like re-settlement of refugees and management of conflict issues the world over. All these put together, I think I have a better understanding and vision within the UN. Also, I have demonstrated for the last two decades that I can cooperate with a number of people and understand their problems. I can comfortably say that I find reasonable prospects for success'' in being elected as the next head of the world body, Mr Tharoor said during an interaction with journalists.

Mr Tharoor disclosed that the Indian government had been considering his name for the coveted post since the last UN General Assembly session.

''It is not out of the blue that my name surfaced,'' he said.

Dismissing doubts expressed by some quarters about his prospects of winning, he said, ''We would not have been in the race if we did not believe that there were reasonable prospects for success.'' At the same time, he said, ''I am not running after this great job nor do I have the ambition to occupy a particular job. I have a reasonably good job at present.'' Mr Tharoor said he had discussed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he met last night, the ''way forward'' in the election to the top post at the UN which falls vacant after the tenure of the present Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expires on December 31.

''I had a very pleasant meeting with the Prime Minister. I thanked him for his support and nominating me for the Secretary General's post. We discussed the way forward and the steps that need to be taken to advance our credentials. The idea is to present as broad a spectrum as possible and to leave Delhi as India's national offering to the world,'' he added.

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