Govt Says No Compromise in Copenhagen; Opposition Walks out

The government has said that it won’t make a compromise on country’s interest at the ensuing climate change summit in Copenhagen, but a discontented opposition walked out in the Rajya Sabha.

“There is no dilution in our stand…There is simply no compromise on India’s national interest,” said environment minister Jairam Ramesh during Zero Hour.

Almost whole of the opposition, nevertheless, walked out citing that it was not satisfied with the response by the minister, who is leaving for the summit on Thursday. But, Ramesh described the walkout as ‘pre-planed’.

Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, said that India, which announced unilateral emission intensity cut by 20-25% by 2020, was following a ‘bad strategy’. Also, he charged that government was ‘totally altering’ its stand that India would not accept any legally binding emission cuts and would strictly adhere to the per capita cut principle.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, also a member of the Parliamentary delegation leaving for the summit, accused the government of coming under the US pressure. He even said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s participation was under pressure from Washington which was evident from the White House statement.

However, the minister dismissed the charge saying, “This was not done under any foreign pressure.”