While reports of Shashi Tharoor being one of the successors to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan were appearing in the Asia-Pacific media, the author-diplomat, who drew large crowds in Australia, said he carries his 'Indianness' wherever he goes.
Tharoor was in Sydney on a 10-day visit as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's special visitors' programme for those who are likely to have a long-term influence in international affairs.
Four years ago, the World Economic Forum in Davos had identified Tharoor, senior UN Under-Secretary-General, as 'a global leader of tomorrow'.
When Tharoor, who has been at the UN since 1978, was asked by a leading national daily if he was Americanised, he said, "No, I haven't made the leap of imagination that immigration entails. I am an outsider here to do a job and technically I'm a non-resident.
"I have lived in Switzerland without feeling Swiss, I have lived in Singapore without feeling Singaporean. I carry my Indian identity and my Indianness with me."
In an interview to another local daily, he said, "The Iraq crisis is not the only issue on the international agenda. There is poverty, human rights, under-development, AIDS, climate change, terrorism, drug abuse and refugee flows."
In Canberra, the prize-winning novelist said, "I beg you to bear in mind there is a whole world out there that has other urgent priorities, which we at the United Nations believe require your attention."