On Board Air India One, May 28 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Saturday the top position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should not go to specific countries, but to the best available talent in the world.
Speaking to reporters while returning home from a six-day trip to Ethiopia and Tanzania, Dr. Singh said: "Well its not proper for me to discuss individual names, we are in touch with various countries and we hope that at the end of it, a consensus would emerge which is generally acceptable. I do see that there is a desire in Europe to have a European occupying this coveted position because very large proportion of IMF funds is now in Europe and particularly in dealing with the tensions in the Euro Zone."
"But we would like to remind the industrialized world that there is a tacit agreement that the top positions in International institutions must not go to specific countries as a matter of right but the best available talent in the world should be available to man these institutions, that is our general position," he added.
A fierce succession battle for the coveted top IMF post was triggered after its head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned for his involvement in a sex scandal.
India has been talking with other emerging countries to build support behind a common candidate from a developing nation to head the IMF, with Mexico's central bank chief Agustin Carstens a possibility.
Following Strauss-Kahn's resignation, Europe has made it clear that it wants to stay in charge of the multilateral lender at a time when it is helping to bail out Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has emerged as a frontrunner for the top position, although her nationality may count against her.
A French national has run the IMF for 26 out of the past 33 years and the embarrassment over the Strauss-Kahn incident may make it difficult for Paris to make a case.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, is facing charges of sexual assault on a hotel maid in New York. He was recently released on a $1 million cash bail and is now placed under house arrest, as he awaits trial in his attempted rape case. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)
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