Skirting the issue of the choice of a new Managing Director of IMF, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said the developing countries should be together in the attempt to reform the global financial institutions.
"I am not very well informed on what is going on with regard to Managing Director of IMF but I do recognise that the struggle for transformation of global institutions including
Bretton Woods is not a one shot operation.
"It is a long process in which all developing countries have to stand united", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters here.
The post of the IMF managing director fell vacant following the exit of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is being tried for charges of sexual assault.
Although some European nations have declared their support for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, the BRICS nations--Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa--
have issued a joint statement in Washington questioning the methodology of selection of IMF chief on the basis of nationality.
"The convention that the selection of the Managing Director is made, in practice, on the basis of nationality undermines the legitimacy of the fund," Executive Directors representing the BRICS had said in a statement.
Besides others, the name of Deputy Chairman of India's Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has figured in list of probable candidates for the top IMF job.
The process of selection of chief and other senior functionaries of the IMF should be viewed as a part of the reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions.
Noting that reforms of the Bretton Woods institutions have remained on the agenda of the developing nations for quite some time, Singh said, "we have to recognise that international relations are power relations and those in power
do not wish to yield ground easily".
The BRICS grouping too had called for "abandoning the obsolete unwritten convention that requires that the head of the IMF be necessarily from Europe".
Pressing for reforms, the BRICS statement said that the multilateral institution should reflect the growing role of developing countries in the world economy.
The Declaration emphasised that the expansion of the Security Council, in the permanent and non-permanent categories, with increased participation of developing countries in both categories, was central to the process of
reform and for enhancing the credibility of the UN.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in areas such as sustainable development, poverty alleviation, healthcare, universal education and sharing appropriate
technologies.
India and Africa called for negotiating specific steps to reduce and finally eliminate nuclear weapons, leading to a world free from all weapons of mass destruction as envisaged
in the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan of 1988.
The two sides said they looked forward to the
commencement of negotiations on the Treaty Banning the Production of Fissile Material for Nuclear Weapons and other Nuclear Explosive devices in the Conference for Disarmament.
On the issue of climate change, India and Africa asked developed countries to take ambitious actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and also provide adequate financing
and transfer of technology to support the efforts of developing countries to effectively address the growing concern.
They reaffirmed the importance of reaching an
agreement on a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol as an indispensable step to preserve the integrity of the international climate change regime.
"We express our firm commitment to a balanced outcome from the climate change negotiations which are commensurate with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities on the basis of respective capabilities.
The two sides said they remained concerned with the recurrent trend of increasing global food, energy and financial crisis.