Weeks ahead of the Copenhagen summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India was ready to do more on climate change if developed nations offer financial resources and technology.
India can commit to be part of a solution that does not compromise the rights of the developing countries, despite the fact that being a latecomer to industrialisation, it has contributed very little to the accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions, Singh said.
"We are determined to be part of the solution to the problem. We are willing to work towards any solution that does not compromise the right of developing countries to develop and lift their populations out of poverty," he said in his address to Washington-based think tank, Council on Foreign Relations, in significant remarks that come close to the Copenhagen summit on climate change.
Singh said India has already undertaken to do what it can with its own resources. "We will do more if there is global support in terms of financial resources and technology transfer".
He said India recognises the need to act on climate change "in our own interest", since it is among the countries most impacted by the phenomenon. "It is for this reason that we have adopted an ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change," he said.
"We are committed to ambitious and time-bound outcomes that will increase energy efficiency of our economy, the share of clean energy including nuclear power in our energy mix, and our forest cover," Singh said, adding all this will require considerable resources.
Referring to the forthcoming Copenhagen meeting, Singh said the negotiations heading toward the meet were proving more difficult than the world would have liked.
"There is disagreement among industrialised countries and between industrialised and developing countries... It is important for all countries to make every effort to contribute to a successful outcome at Copenhagen," he said.
