India: 'No assurance' on Lagarde IMF bid

Ms Lagarde is on a world tour to drum up support for her bid

India's finance minister has said there is "no assurance" the country will support French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde's bid to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Pranab Mukherjee's remarks came after a meeting with Ms Lagarde.

Ms Lagarde was in Delhi on Tuesday on the latest leg of a world tour aimed at drumming up support for her bid.

Emerging economies have voiced their concerns over the continuing hold of European nations over the IMF.

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned amid US sex assault charges.

Ms Lagarde met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during her day long visit to India.

"There is no assurance [on supporting Christine Lagarde]. We are working on a consensus," Mr Mukherjee was quoted as saying by the state-run Doordarshan News after his meeting with Ms Lagarde.

Mr Mukherjee said India "wants election of managing director of IMF to be on the basis of merit and competence and to be held in a transparent manner and not on any particular nationality".

Ms Lagarde, however, said she had "excellent" meetings with the Indian leaders.

"We had excellent meetings and we were able to review quite a few issues concerning the current status of the Indian economy as well as my own perspective to the candidacy for the post of managing director of the IMF", she told reporters.

Ms Lagarde started her tour in Brazil on Monday, and is expected to visit China.

The balance of global financial power has changed drastically in the past few years.

Economies like China and India have grown at a much faster pace that those in the developed world, making them increasingly important players on the world stage.

However, their influence in global bodies like the IMF has not altered greatly during the same period.