Beijing’s new clout at the UN.

One way to get something out of this avoidable faux pas would be for Dr Singh, who has proved to be quite a diplomatic paradigm shifter, to ask some tough questions on India’s UN strategy. It may sound undiplomatic but is true nonetheless that over the decades, bureaucrats in search of global sinecures, pensioners with high self-esteem and ideologues of a particular persuasion have cohered into a multilateralist quasi-lobby group that has sometimes exercised a surprising amount of influence on New Delhi’s UN diplomacy. For many in the so-called establishment, multilateralism has become an end in itself, disconnected from government’s priorities or realpolitik exigencies. The Tharoor candidature enthused those who ask the question what India can do for multilateralism. The more important question is what multilateralism can do for India.