The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan Singh seeks green technology transfer commitment

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Manmohan Singh seeks green technology transfer commitment

N. Ravi

Discusses with Gordon Brown the prospects of an early global economic recovery

PHOTO: AFP

FOR JOINT LEADERSHIP: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his British counterpart Gordon Brown at a meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, on Wednesday on the sidelines of the G8 summit. —

L’Aquila, Italy: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday discussed ways to push the climate change talks and strengthen what looks like a weak declaration that may emerge from the meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Thursday.

Much of the bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G8 and G5 summits that lasted 45 minutes was devoted to climate change, which is perhaps the most critical and divisive issue at the conference.

The Major Economies Forum is planning to give a major political thrust to the talks, which will conclude at the end of the year with the Copenhagen summit.

Dr. Singh explained to Mr. Brown the Indian perspective on climate change and also handed him a note prepared in a question-and-answer form setting out the Indian position. India expects the industrial nations to come out with a stronger and specific commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as the mechanisms to fund the adoption of green technologies by the developing countries. In addition, it has sought the loosening of the intellectual property regime to enable developing countries to obtain green technology without paying high licensing fees.

The Prime Minister also suggested that India and the United Kingdom could jointly take a leadership role in the development of green technology projects. He invited the U.K. to participate actively in the New Delhi conference organised by the United Nations that aims at the creation of a global platform for climate-friendly technologies.

After a brief one-on-one conversation, the two leaders were joined by National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan, special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon. This was their second meeting this year – they met on April 1 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London.

Following up on the G20 summit, Dr. Singh and Mr. Brown discussed the prospects of an early global economic recovery. They also exchanged notes on restructuring the global financial architecture, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

According to Indian official sources, the frequent exchanges at the highest reflect the close and multi-faceted ties between the two countries. The two countries work closely on counter terrorism as well as on a wide range of areas, including agriculture and science and technology. Two way trade now stands at £ 9 billion while the target for 2010 has been set at £ 10 billion. The U.K. is the third largest investor in India but in the recent period Indian investment in the U.K. overtook British investment in India.

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