India against conditionalities in global climate change agenda: PM

Toyako, Japan, Jul 9 (UNI) Even as the world leaders today took on board India's concerns on sustainable development in developing countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged them not to add conditionalities to the development challenges faced by the developing countries while fixing agenda on climate change.

Participating in a meeting of the world's 16 major economies, including India, and the European Union here, he asked them not to maintain economic status quo or try to introduce protectionism in the guise of tackling the challenge of global warming.

The issue of climate change should be looked as a global challange as also an ooporunity for the developed and developed countries to work together to meet the challenge for the future of mankind, he added.

In their joint declaration on energy security and climate change after holding a collective meeting in this resort town in northern Japan, Major Economies Meeting (MEM) said it ''support ...a long-term global goal for emission reductions, that assures growth, prosperity, and other aspects of sustainable development, including major efforts towards sustainable consumption and production, all aimed at achieving a low carbon society.'' India, while declining to be legally bound by target of reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases being pressed by highly-industrialised nations of the world, has been saying it cannot take this responsibility as it is yet to bring millions of her people out of poverty and requires sustained growth in the foreseeable future.

Intervening during the discussion before the declaration, Dr Singh said ''sustained and accelerated growth is critical for all developing countries, including India, and hence we cannot even consider quantitative restrictions on our emissions.'' He urged the G-8 countries to show leadership they had always promised by taking and then delivering truly significant greenhouse gases reductions.

India, in any case is not bound till 2012 by restrictions on emission of greenhouse gases which were envisaged by Kyoto protocol.

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