Lagarde plans India visit to get support for IMF top post

Amid dissenting voices raised by developing nations over a European holding top IMF post, French finance minister Christine Lagarde is planning to visit India, China and Brazil to drum up support for her bid
to become the chief of the global lender.

Lagarde, who announced her candidacy yesterday, has said that she was prepared to visit China, India and Brazil to muster broad support and not just the backing from Europe. "China, Brazil and India are an absolute necessity...," she told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

"I would certainly prefer to be endorsed by a very large majority rather being the European candidate pushed by the Europeans," Lagarde said.

The post of International Monetary Fund's Managing Director fell vacant after the ignominous exit of Dominique Strauss-Kahn this month over sexual harassment charges.

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that developing countries are trying to consolidate their position to take a view on the candidate for IMF chief post.

"I am in touch with some of the finance ministers of developing countries and emerging economies ... We are trying to consolidate our position where we can take a view," Mukherjee said.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) had said convention that choice of IMF chief is made on the basis of nationality "undermines the legitimacy of the fund". 

"We are concerned with public statements made recently by high-level European officials to the effect that the position of Managing Director should continue to be occupied by a European," IMF executive directors representing BRICS had said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Historically, IMF Managing Director has always been a European.