<p>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.<br />"China, Brazil and India are an absolute necessity...," she told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.<br /><br />"I would certainly prefer to be endorsed by a very large majority rather being the European candidate pushed by the Europeans," Lagarde said.<br /><br />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.<br />Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that developing countries are trying to consolidate their position to take a view on the candidate for IMF chief post.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />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".<br /><br />"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.</p>
<p>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.<br />"China, Brazil and India are an absolute necessity...," she told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.<br /><br />"I would certainly prefer to be endorsed by a very large majority rather being the European candidate pushed by the Europeans," Lagarde said.<br /><br />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.<br />Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that developing countries are trying to consolidate their position to take a view on the candidate for IMF chief post.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />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".<br /><br />"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.</p>