India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen, his office announced Saturday, days after the country pledged to cut its carbon footprint. An official from Singh's office said the premier would be in Copenhagen for two days beginning December 17.
"It is not known yet whether the prime minister will address the gathering" in Copenhagen, the official, who did not want to be named, told AFP. The Press Trust of India said Singh's decision to visit Copenhagen was a result of "insistence by world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, that he should" attend the meeting.
The announcement followed the Indian government's promise Thursday that it would reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions. India will cut emissions intensity by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told parliament. But he reiterated the country's rejection of binding emissions targets or a peak year by which its emissions would have to fall.
India had been seen as under pressure to make a gesture after the world's top two polluters, China and the United States, put numbers on the table last month. India's carbon intensity is lower than China's, the biggest emitter, which has said it will cut the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 2020 by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels.
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