India has welcomed the selection of Portugal's former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres as the next UN Secretary General to replace Ban Ki-moon at the beginning of next year. India's Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin's congratulatory tweet was accompanied with a picture of Guterres shaking hands with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Guterres had met Swaraj during his visit to New Delhi in July this year.<br/><br/>Guterres, the 67-year-old former head of UN's refugee organisation for 10 years, emerged as a leading candidate in all the Security Council's straw polls. The 15-nation Council conducted a sixth straw poll yesterday in which Guterres received 13 encourage votes and two no opinion votes. None of the five veto-wielding permanent members voted against him, clearing the way for Guterres to become the 9th Secretary General of the UN.