Jagjit Pavadia re-elected to INCB, as India scores another victory at the UN

Washington: India scored yet another victory at the United Nations on Tuesday when Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another term, posting the highest tally of 44.

Next were the candidates fielded by Morocco and Paraguay with 32 and 31 votes each. Voting was on till the filing of this report, with two more members remaining to be elected. There were in all 15 candidates competing for 5 seats.

Pavadia has been a member of the INCB since 2015, and second vice-president and chair of the standing committee since 2015 and 2017.

The INCB, is an independent, quasi-judicial expert body established in 1968 as a monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions.

“Thanks to the support extended by many friends belonging to India,” Syed Akbaruddin, permanent representatives to the United Nations, wrote on Twitter, announcing Pavadia’s victory.

It has 13 members, each elected for a period of five years.. “Once they have been elected, INCB members serve impartially in their personal capacity, independently of Governments,” says the INCB website.

India has been on roll at UN elections in recent year, including the most celebrated re-election of Dalveer Bhandari to the International Court of Justice in 2017, beating the UK nominee in a testimony to India’s growing clout globally.