How Can India and China to bring more to table at Copenhagen?

How Can India and China to bring more to table at Copenhagen?
(Madan Menon Thottasseri)
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India had preferred for a legally binding climate change agreement from the developed countries stating that a political pact will not be "enforceable", while asserting that India’s voluntary reduction of carbon emission intensity was not announced under pressure.

High-lighting the importance of a treaty at Copenhagen, the Prime Minister's Climate Change envoy Shyam Saran said that it was too early to pre-empt that the negotiations would fail to produce legally binding commitments and governments would have to settle for a political agreement.

Indeed, India decided to cut down its carbon emission intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 in the run up to the Copenhagen summit, shortly after a similar declaration by China.
There is a common apprehension that recent announcement on emission reduction indicated flexibility in India's position. It has no relevance when India is not required by the convention to do this but did so in order to facilitate and promote a successful outcome.

Saran explained the need to work towards "an agreed outcome" as was mandated by the Bali action plan, and only if the countries failed to arrive at a "substantive outcome" on those lines then "we can take a call on the outcome that we now aim for."

In fact to say that India should only aim for a politically binding document does not really mean it because politically binding means that commitments that are taken will not be enforceable," the top Indian Climate Change official noted. "What we would be looking for are enforceable commitments," he said.

Saran stressed that in India a legally binding commitment from developed nations would carry more weight than a politically binding one. He said "We must not pre-empt the results of these negotiations." India together with China and the other nations under G77 have argued that they a week of negotiating time left before the high-level segment.

"Before the Heads of state/government arrive for the High Level Meet before December16th the two ad hoc working groups - the Ad Hoc Working group on the Long Term Cooperative Action under the Bali Action Plan and the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol will be continuing their work from where the negotiations left off in Barcelona.

At the same time, a second track of negotiations are being for conducted for the extension of the Kyoto Protocol into its second commitment period following the end of the first commitment period on December 31, 2012 under which industrialised nations are obligated to legally binding carbon emission cuts.

Whether India would be forced to sign a broad political agreement due to any hurry burry attitude or out of desperation in not getting expected co-opearation from developed nations like Australia, Denmark, Canada etc.that may be against India’s positions on Climate Change? That will never be happened; it should not happen too. India should not get hustled.

India would not get "isolated" being supported by Chian and other G77 allies and all together have already arrived on a consensus to take a common decision.There is no need for India to unnecessarily get tempted to compromise at any levels of negotiations and deliberations.

I would like to advocate for the following-

The second track of negotiations for the extension of the Kyoto Protocol into its second commitment period is primarily very important as the industrialised nations are obligated to legally binding carbon emission cuts. India and the G 77 Camp should not fall flat for any conspiracies which may come as sweet toffees as of now but will be venomous later on.

India and China have to consolidate their potential of new emerging economic powers and can even jointly have dialogue with friendly rich nations and woo them by offering concessions in bi-lateral trade issues in such a way that they have to feel like a beneficiary if they support countries like India and China! When we have a bargaining power in certain other areas, no harm it can be silently used for them to fall in line. Why can’t we also outsmart rivals and muster support, to get things done? India must act now.
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