Mexico's Agustin Carstens to seek India's support for IMF top job

Mexican central bank governor and a former deputy managing director at the IMF, Agustin Carstens, is arriving in New Delhi on Friday to seek India's support for his bid to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as IMF managing director.

Carstens, a non-European candidate for the post of the IMF top post, will be arriving in India on 10 June, as part of a campaign to seek support for his candidature.

A champion of emerging economies, 52-year-old Carstens had earlier served as Mexico's finance minister and later as a deputy managing director of the IMF, for a three-year term. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the G-20 Financial Stability Board (FSB).

Carstens is arriving here after a trip that took him to the US and Canada.

Carstens's visit comes close on the heels of India refraining from supporting French finance minister Christine Lagarde as the new IMF managing director.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had taken a non-committal stand on support for Lagarde, even as he had earlier welcomed Carstens's candidature for IMF managing director's post.