New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Bahrain has endorsed India’s bid for a UN Security Council seat in 2011-12, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet posted on the social networking site from the Gulf country Monday.
Tharoor, who narrowly lost his bid for the top UN job over two years ago, is India’s chief pointsperson to push New Delhi’s case for a Security Council seat as a non-permanent member. Tharoor managed to get Liberia’s support for India’s UN candidature during his visit to the African country last month.

Elections will be held in October 2010 for the five non-permanent UNSC seats for 2011-12. Asia will get only one seat. India has not been a (non-permanent) Security Council member since 1991-92. In 1996, it lost to Japan 40-142.

Tharoor will also make a strong pitch for United Arab Emirates’ support when he holds talks with the leaders of the oil-rich Gulf country Tuesday. Tharoor wraps up his two-day visit to Bahrain Monday night.

In a dozen-odd tweets on the social networking site Twitter, Tharoor has tried to conjure up the flavour and substance of his first trip to the Gulf region as junior minister, giving a new meaning to transparent diplomacy.

“Warm discussions wt (with) PM of Bahrain, followed by solid mtgs (meetings) w (with) 3 successive Ministers: Trade & Industry, Social Development, Labour. Gd (Good) outcomes,” writes Tharoor.

“Began morning with excellent meetings with Bahrain Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,” he writes.

It’s not just boring diplomatese. Tharoor’s tweets are full of subtle humour. Tharoor, scorned by some Keralites as an outsider who has lived away from the state for most of his life, can’t conceal his bewilderment at meeting so many Malayalees in Bahrain. “When any Indian minister meets Indian expats in Bahrain, UAE or Saudi Arabia, he discovers 70 per cent of them are Keralites! Not my fault,” he writes.

He is astonished to find so many rival associations formed by over 300,000 Indians in Bahrain. “109 Indian Associations in Bahrain, 70 of them rival Kerala associations, for a desi population of 313,000. A coordinating association has been formed as umbrella!,” he said.

Being a sharp observer and writer, he can’t help marvelling at a Hindu temple in Bahrain. “wlkd thru souk to 200yr old SriNathji temple. Bahrain offers full freedom of worship. Giant mural of Krishna in courtyard!”

In a speech at the Bahrain-India Society, Tharoor Sunday made a strong pitch for a free trade area between India and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).