By Manish Chand  

On Board Air India One, May 29 (IANS): Questioning the monopoly of Western powers in the International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said top positions in international financial institutions should not go "to specific countries as a matter of right". He pushed for a "more equitable world order" that accommodates aspirations of developing countries.

Manmohan Singh also said that India was in touch with other countries and hoped for a consensus on the successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned this month as IMF chief after being arrested on charges of sexually assault a hotel maid.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has emerged as a front-runner for the IMF top job.

"We would like to remind the industrialised world that there is a tacit agreement that the top positions in international financial institutions must not go to specific countries as a matter of right," Manmohan Singh said in a mid-air press conference while returning from a six-day official visit to Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Expressing wariness about the reluctance of Western powers to make way for developing countries in key global institutions like the IMF, World Bank and the UN Security Council, Manmohan Singh said that he noticed "a desire in Europe to have a European occupy this coveted position (IMF top job)", but stressed that this was no argument against talent being the main criteria for recruitment.

"The best available talent in the world should be available to man these institutions," he said.

"But having said that, you do recognise that those who exercise power, they don't want to give up power and, therefore the struggle for a better, balanced world order, a more equitable world order, including the management of global institutions like the IMF, World Bank, Security Council -- it is going to be a long haul, I am afraid."

India, along with other BRICS countries -- China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa -- has contested the decades-old practice of choosing an European to head the IMF and an American to head the World Bank.

Earlier this week, IMF officials from India, Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa joined hands to assert that nationality should not be a criteria for the IMF top job. The BRICS countries are exploring the possibility of fielding a joint candidate, but they have so far failed to name a common candidate.

Earlier this week, Manmohan Singh said in Addis Ababa where he was attending the India-Africa Forum Summit, that the reform of global institutions is high on the agenda of many developing countries, but could take time.

"I do recognize that the struggle for the transformation of global institutions, including the Breton Woods institutions, is not a one-shot operation. It is a long process, in which all the developing countries will have to stand united," he had said.