India's Uma Sekhar was elected to the governing council of the Rome-based International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in an election that saw 32 contestants in the fray including from the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and France, sources said on Thursday.
The UNIDROIT is an independent intergovernmental organisation dealing with various legal issues including studying needs and methods for modernising commercial and private laws.
Government sources described victory of the Indian woman candidate as "historic".
"In a historic victory for India's first woman candidate, Uma Sekhar was elected to the Governing Council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) with an impressive 45 votes out of 59 votes in the first round at the elections held in Rome," said a source.
Twenty-one votes were required to be elected to the Governing Council, sources said, adding India will be a member of the body for the period 2024-28.
The Governing Council consists of 25 positions which are held by distinguished legal experts, they said.
"In today's election there were 32 contestants in the fray including from the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France, etc," the source cited above said.
"The candidates from Russia, the US and China failed to win positions on the Governing Council," the source said.
The purpose of UNIDROIT is to study needs and methods for modernising, harmonising and coordinating private and in particular commercial law as between states and groups of states and to formulate uniform law instruments, principles and rules to achieve those objectives.
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