Climate talks at 'dead end' thanks to U.S., China: Indian minister

"The prospect of a breakthrough in 2010 is very, very remote," Jairam Ramesh told reporters in Beijing after finishing talks with his Chinese counterpart. India is the world's fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases and one of the largest players in securing any deal.

"We've reached virtually a dead end" with neither the United States nor China -- the world's top two emitters of heat-trapping greenhouse gases -- unwilling to make any firm commitments, Ramesh said.
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China's top climate change negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, twice shouted and thumped the table when the agreement was signed, Ramesh recalled Sunday. Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao were all in the room during the outburst.

"'What did he say?'" Ramesh quoted Clinton as saying.

"'He's congratulating us,'" Obama said, according to Ramesh.

Ramesh said he never found out what Xie was shouting about. "I think he was saying the Americans were not fulfilling their part of the bargain. That's my guess," Ramesh said.

World Agreement on Climate Change Possible, Says Indian Minister - BusinessWeek

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- An international agreement on climate change can be reached before ministers meet to try to thrash out an accord in Mexico later this year, India’s environment minister said.

“Between now and Cancun, I believe we can arrive at an international agreement,” Shri Ramesh told delegates to the International Cooperative Conference on Green Economy and Climate Change in Beijing.

India bailed out China from US-EU ambush at Copenhagen: Ramesh - India - The Times of India

BEIJING: India bailed out China from isolation during the Copenhagen climate talks and saved it from getting ambushed by the US and EU which wanted it to sign an agreement on verification of emission levels much against its wishes, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday.