UK and India are locked in a bitter battle over the appointment of a judge in the International Court of Justice(ICJ) with India accusing Theresa May's government of  "misusing" UN Security Council membership by pushing for a joint conference mechanism.

India's Dalveer Bhandari is the front-runner, with nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly supporting him but the UK is threatening to use its power as the permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to end the process of voting. 

The UK government instead plans to implement a mechanism of Joint Conference, comprising three members each from the United Nations General Assembly(GA) and Security Council as a substitute to voting which has never been used earlier over the appointment of judges to the world court.

While speaking to WION Shashi Tharoor explained this complicated ICJ standoff. 

"The matter further complicates by the fact Greenwood is an English British and Britain being the permanent member there and obviously have an opportunity to lobby effectively for him with the other members of the security council." 

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Tharoor added that "we need to do an effective job in either persuading the brits to step down or persuading any one or two members of the security council to stop their stubborn support to the British" 

One-third of the court's 15-member bench is elected every three years for a nine-year term, elections for which are held separately but simultaneously in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council in New York.

In all previous incidents, the candidate getting the majority in the General Assembly has eventually been elected a judge of International Court of Justice. Greenwood, who has already served one nine-year term in ICJ, is trailing behind more than 50 votes in the General Assembly. However, he received nine against five for Mr Bhandari in the Security Council.

To win ICJ election, a candidate needs to get the majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, which has not been the case in the 11 rounds of voting so far.