New Delhi
21 December 2009
The India-China camaraderie at Copenhagen has confounded Europeans, who
are wondering aloud whether it was a tactical coming together of the two countries or a
longer-term phenomenon to reckon with, as the world looks ahead to the follow-up
conference in Bonn and the 16th Conference of Parties in Mexico next year.
The question agitating their minds is whether India was in it for herself, or for shoring up
support for the BASIC (Brazil-South Africa-India-China) coalition so that Beijing is not
isolated. Toss the question to South Block, and the refrain is that the Europeans faltered
after making a reasonable start at the G-8 Summit at Heiligendamm in Germany and let
the US off the hook at Copenhagen. But some European capitals are not convinced.
Leading the charge is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said: "Never again
should we let a global deal to move towards the greener future be held to ransom by
only a handful of countries." Brown did not name the countries but his Cabinet colleague
Ed Miliband pointed finger at China.
A source said here that the time perhaps has come to ask whether the United Nations is
the right framework for climate change negotiations, and suggested G-20, which jointly
confronted the global economic crisis, as an option.
The source insisted that even if Europe were to become zero-emitters tomorrow, the
situation will not change unless India and China were on board. Also, the US response at
Copenhagen was defended by saying that the atmosphere in the US Senate was militant
and Barack Obama was not ready to put his political credibility at stake, although he did
back a 100 billion-dollar fund to meet the needs of developing countries.
In an indication that India and China are in Washington's crosshairs, Senior White
House Adviser David Axelrod has said that even though the Copenhagen accord is not
legally binding, the US would not only "review" its implementation by India and China,
but also would "challenge" them if they do not meet the goals set by the agreement.
Europe, in particular, would want to know how far India and China would go along
towards undertaking commitments, and whether they are ready to move away from Kyoto
Protocol to a new agreement that will allow for burden to be shared by the industrialised
countries and the developing economies alike.
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