''No need to feel disheartened'': PM

New Delhi, Oct 4: Describing Mr Shashi Tharoor's performance at the UN ''very, very creditable,'' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the future would have to reckon with the fact that India is ready to assume its rightful role in the management of international system.

Commenting on the bowing out by Mr Tharoor from the race to the UN Secretary General's post yesterday, the Prime Minister said he had already stated that this (contesting for the top UN post) was a ''Herculean task'' and that India was up against the existing international order.

This was the first time that India had challenged it (the existing international order.) ''His performance has been very, very creditable even though he has not made it. I think there is no reason to be disheartened. I think the future will have to reckon with the fact that India is ready to assume its rightful role in the management of international system,'' the Prime Minister said.

Mr Tharoor, who was India's candidate for the UN Secretary General's post, withdrew from the race after South Korean front-runner Ban Ki-Moon emerged a clear winner in a crucial straw poll on Monday by capturing 14 votes in the 15-member UN Security Council.

The Security Council will hold a formal vote on Monday morning to select a new Secretary-General to recommend to the General Assembly for approval.

After four informal polls this year, five candidates officially remain in the race to replace Mr Kofi Annan as Secretary-General when he steps down at the end of his term on December 31.

UNI

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