India-EU Inks Nuclear Pact; New Delhi Not Ready to Cut Carbon Emissions

In India-EU summit, an agreement in the civil nuclear field was signed with India and the European Union to give a boost to collaborative research and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear to the EU leaders that New Delhi was not prepared to quantify its carbon emission targets, but would explore that possibility.

The agreement in fusion research was inked by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar from the Indian side and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner from the EU side.

The vital agreement, which aims at intensifying cooperation to develop scientific understanding and technological capability underlying the fusion system in the long term, was signed after the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his and his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt along with European Commission President Jose Manuel Borosso.

During discussions, topic of climate prominently came up. Reinfeldt pitched for India’s cooperation in forging a consensus at the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen.

“We have identified the costs of mitigation (of greenhouse gas emissions). We need 100 billion euros by the time we come to 2020. We have acknowledged there are ambitious plans in India, but we need action from everyone,” he said.

While answering a media query on whether India would quantify carbon emission targets, Singh said: “We have not reached that stage. We will explore that possibility.”

At the end of the summit, the prime minister said: “All of us have an obligation to work together. We have a very ambitious national plan to combat climate change.”