Obama arrives India today:
US India joint energy plan
US: US President Barack Obama and India are expected to launch
a joint initiative on clean energy, eyeing economic opportunities in an
area that has long divided the two countries.
Obama arrives today on his first Presidential visit to India, where
many analysts say that relations with the United States have lost
momentum after warming rapidly over the past decade.
The United States and India will announce during Obama’s trip the
creation of a centre for joint cooperation on developing clean energy,
including solar power and biofuels, according to two people familiar
with the plan.
Both nations and the private sector will fund the centre, they said.
The United States is also expected to announce help for India to map
out shale reserves, the deep-underground gas source that has triggered a
boom in North America.
The United States and India, whose relations were strained during the
Cold War, have increasingly identified common interests on global
issues. But points of friction remain.
India has quietly voiced unease about the Obama administration’s
support for US war partner Pakistan, particularly military assistance.
In slow-moving negotiations on a climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto
Protocol, the United States and India have found themselves on opposite
sides with emerging economies pressing for greater commitments by
wealthy nations.
Despite Obama’s appeals, the US Congress has resisted imposing
nationwide restrictions on carbon blamed for global warming.
The new Congress elected Tuesday will be even more skeptical, with
many in the triumphant Republican Party questioning the economic cost
and the science behind climate action.
Rajendra Pachauri, the Indian scientist who heads the UN-backed
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, acknowledged the political
obstacles but pointed to climate action at the local level, particularly
California.
The United States and India can find practical ways to cooperate on
the climate that would help both nations increase energy independence
and create jobs, Pachauri said.
“I believe, for a variety of reasons, there is much that we can do
together and I don’t think one needs to wait for legislation to start
acting in the right direction,” Pachauri said.
The Obama administration has also sought cooperation on climate
change with China, which has surpassed the United States as the top
carbon emitter and is a much larger polluter than India.
During his maiden visit to China last year, Obama agreed with
President Hu Jintao to set up a joint 150-million-dollar research center
to develop cleaner forms of energy — particularly in the politically
sensitive area of coal. Washington, Friday, AFP |