How India overcame odds, UK tasted defeat first time

Ex-diplomat’s account of elevation of Indian judge elected to ICJ

Exactly five years after the diplomatic coup by getting its judge elected to the ICJ, Indian diplomat Syed Akbaruddin has written a ringside account of the event.

‘India Vs UK’ is a testament to the changing dynamics of multi-lateral governance and international law. Just before the book is to be launched, Syed Akbaruddin, who was India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, shared his views about how India overcame odds and the UK tasted defeat for the first time.

Much of written history sources we are taught in schools are not Indian. These are the accounts of foreign travellers, be it Megasthenes, Fa Hien or Hiuen Tsang. Our knowledge of the past was not written by the participants but by visitors. I want to create a tradition where important issues and stories are told by those who participate.