US President George W Bush [Images] and West German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday agreed to "consider" supporting Shashi Tharoor, India's candidate for the post of the UN secretary general to succeed Kofi Annan. 

The assurances were given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] during their separate bilateral meetings with him, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters in St Petersburg [Images]. 

The short term considerations should not stand in the way of compelling need for reform in the UN Security Council in order to strengthen multilateralism on which there is a global consensus, Dr Singh said in an interview to Interfax news agency. 

Earlier, Dr Singh told the Russian agency that Tharoor, under secretary general at the United Nations, is India's candidate for the post of the UN secretary general.  

"In view of his impeccable credentials and our traditionally close relations with Russia [Images], we naturally expect Russia's wholehearted support for his candidature," he said. 

He also thanked Russia for its continued support to India's candidacy for permanent membership of the reformed UN Security Council.

"In this context, we are grateful for Russia's continued support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the restructured Security Council," he said.