Copenhagen brought change of climate in Sino-India ties: Jairam Ramesh

Minister of state for environment Jairam Ramesh today credited the close cooperation between India and China at the Copenhagen summit for bringing about a positive change of climate in bilateral relations.

Ramesh, who headed the Indian delegation to Copenhagen in December last year, said the two countries are cooperating
"very closely" in climate change negotiations.

While India and China cooperation brought about a change in climate negotiations, it brought about a change of climate between the two countries, said Ramesh, who headed India's first ministerial delegation to the annual Boao Forum for Asia, a Chinese sponsored business forum which has gained prominence since it was established nine years ago.

Ramesh spoke on 'Low Carbon Energy: Can Asia lead the world' and 'China and India-Cooperation in 21st Century' at the forum yesterday and today. He said he would be visiting Beijing on May 7 and 8 to discuss with the Chinese leaders to take the cooperation further.

A large Indian delegation comprising captains of Indian industry business and diplomats took part in the meeting and FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra has been elected to the Board of the Forum, which holds its annual sessions at the picturesque Boao town of China's Hainan province.

"India and China have signed an agreement last October for partnership in climate change and we are cooperating very  closely in climate change negotiations," Ramesh told CCTV in a brief interview.

"We would like to cooperate in the development of technology and research in new areas that effect climate change and I will be visiting Beijing next month to take the cooperation forward," he said.

India and China worked in close tandem at the Copenhagen summit, as part of the BRIC framework, and were instrumental
in bringing out a last-minute climate accord.

The close cooperation on the international stage came even as the bilateral ties were strained by an open spat over Arunachal Pradesh. 

In his presentations at the Boao forum Ramesh, a long advocate of India-China friendship and floated the phrase "Chindia" to denote the importance of cooperation, said while there is some element of competition between the two countries they should look for more partnerships and collaboration and opt for more pragmatic solutions.

He said the thinking in the Indian government was that if India continues to reach out, China would respond.