Climate Change and India
Abstract: During her recent visit to India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to prepare the ground for the major negotiation on carbon emissions in Copenhagen in December by calling upon India to join hands with the United States to "combat global warming." Recognizing that Clinton was indirectly calling for India to accept mitigation commitments at Copenhagen, India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh reacted swiftly and sharply stating that his country was "simply not in a position to take on legally binding emissions [reduction] targets."
Is India being self-righteous and risking its own interest, as the Financial Times and The New York Times claimed in the wake of the tough stance by Ramesh, or acting in self-interest while asserting its reasonable rights? A good case can be made in favor of the latter.