Race for IMF post: After Lagarde, Mexican bank head comes calling

Barely 48 hours after French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde sought support from India for her candidature to the top job at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mexican central bank Governor Agustin Carstens will meet top UPA ministers to make a case for himself for the coveted post.

Carstens will meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee among other Indian leaders, officials said. However, Mukherjee had earlier said that he would ask Carstens to withdraw from the race for IMF chief.

Lagarde had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia yesterday and requested them to consider her claim to the IMF post on merit and not on nationality.

Sources said that Mukherjee had told Lagarde that New Delhi supports her credentials. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had earlier come out with a joint statement asking for an end to the practice of choosing only Europeans to the post.

The post of IMF chief fell vacant after Dominique Strauss-Kahn stepped down following charges of sexual misconduct.