India Rejects U.S. Proposal of Carbon Limits

Clinton Expresses Hope for Common Ground on Climate Change Despite Disagreement on Capping Greenhouse Gases
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
NEW DELHI -- India dismissed suggestions that it accept binding limits on carbon emissions, with a top official Sunday delivering a strong rebuke to overtures from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the two countries to work together to combat climate change.
Indian Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, in white, greets Hillary Clinton as she arrives at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi on Sunday. During her first visit to India as Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton is focusing on climate change—where India rejected suggestions of emissions limits—as well as nuclear power, defense deals and counterterrorism.

The rejection of the U.S. proposal was made in the middle of Mrs. Clinton's first visit to India as secretary of state and came just as the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is gearing up to push for a new global pact on climate change.
"There is simply no case for the pressure that we, who have among the lowest emissions per capita, face to actually reduce emissions," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told Mrs. Clinton and her delegation.
"And as if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours," he said, according to a written account of Mr. Ramesh's remarks to Mrs. Clinton in their meeting. Mr. Ramesh handed out copies of the account to reporters at a news conference afterward with Mrs. Clinton standing nearby.
India, like China, has long refused to accept emissions caps, arguing they could limit its economic growth and that the West, which has pumped a century's worth of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, didn't have to contend with such rules when it was industrializing.
India's statement is consistent with its longstanding position on the issue, and it isn't likely to affect the more-nuanced diplomatic discussions quietly afoot. Increasingly, developed nations seeking global cooperation are accepting that the idea of hard emission caps for developing nations is a political nonstarter.
Instead, diplomatic thinking is shifting toward a system of carrots rather than sticks that would lead developing nations to see curbing emissions as in their economic interests. Much of the discussion centers on how to transfer affordable, low-carbon technology from the developed world to the developing countries where emissions are rising fastest.
The idea, which is fraught with practical difficulties, is expected to be on the agenda when diplomats meet in December in Copenhagen to work toward a new international agreement to fight climate change.
During the first two days of her India visit, Mrs. Clinton tried to address Indian sensitivities, acknowledging the West's contribution to climate change and saying the U.S. would never try to impose conditions that could limit India's growth.
Instead, she said the two countries should together come up with a plan to fight climate change. She said Sunday that she still believes the two countries can find common ground on climate change. She called Mr. Ramesh's comments a "fair argument" and chalked them up to being "part of a negotiation."
Mrs. Clinton also pointed out that India's absolute level of carbon emissions -- as opposed to the per capita level, which remain relatively low because of the country's vast population -- are "going up and dramatically."
Issues on the visit's agenda include counterterrorism, nuclear power and defense deals valued in the billions of dollars.
On Saturday, Mrs. Clinton expressed optimism in Mumbai that the two countries would seal a pact allowing the U.S. to make sure American weapons sold to India were being used as intended. The pact is needed to allow U.S. firms to bid for an Indian contract to buy 126 fighter jets. The sale is expected to top $10 billion, making it one of the largest arms deals in the world and a potential windfall for Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
U.S. officials said they hope Indian officials will on Monday announce two sites where American companies will have exclusive rights to build nuclear-power plants. The plants would be the first two projects allowed under an agreement sealed last year that ended a 34-year U.S. moratorium on nuclear trade with India.
Mrs. Clinton chose a highly symbolic backdrop for the opening of her three-day trip, staying Saturday at Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, one of the hotels attacked during November's gun-and-grenade terrorist rampage in the city, which left more than 170 people dead.—Jeffrey Ball contributed to this article.
Write to Matthew Rosenberg at matthew.rosenberg@wsj.com