New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday met Bimal N. Patel and congratulated him on his recent election as a Judge of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
“Glad to meet Prof. Dr. Bimal N. Patel today. Congratulated him on his recent election as a Judge of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea. Wished him the best for a successful tenure,” EAM Jaishankar wrote on X.
Patel was elected by the countries that are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and he will join the tribunal in September.
With his election, India will continue to be represented on the tribunal when Neeru Chadha completes her nine-year term in September. She is currently the Vice President of the tribunal.
Patel, an international jurist, currently serves on the UN’s International Law Commission and is the Vice Chancellor of the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gujarat.
Among the various offices he holds is membership of the National Security Advisory Board of the National Security Council Secretariat.
Patel’s “election takes forward India’s enduring commitment to multilateralism and Law of the Sea”, India’s UN Mission said on X.
Indian diplomats campaigned at the UN since last year for his election. Of the seven seats on the tribunal that were up for election this year, two were for the Asian region, and they were won by Patel and Vietnam’s Nguyen Lan-Anh Thi. Patel received 115 votes out of the168 valid votes.
The election was held during the thirty-sixth meeting of States Parties to the Law of the Sea Convention.
The tribunal based in Hamburg, Germany, has 21 judges who rule on disputes regarding seas and oceans and interpret the law of the sea.
EAM Jaishankar had thanked the UNCLOS members for the support after Patel’s election.
(IANS)
