Washington - US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday pledged their countries will work closely to develop clean forms of energy to help curtail the threat posed by global warming. Obama said a "clean energy initiative" initiative between the United States and India will help create jobs for establishing more efficient energy sources and promote a more sustainable development on the planet.
Their meeting, the first state visit of Obama's presidency, comes two weeks head of the UN-sponsored summit in Copenhagen designed to produce an international treaty for reducing greenhouse gases, regarded as the main cause behind global warming.
Bringing India on board is a key goal for Obama. India has resisted any stiff measures that could hamper its growth as an emerging economic powerhouse.
"We resolved to take significant national mitigation actions that will strengthen the world's ability to combat climate change," Obama said of the meeting. "We agreed to stand by these commitments with full transparency, through appropriate processes, as to their implementation."
Obama and Singh pledged Tuesday to fully implement a nuclear accord signed by the two countries last year that would allow India to purchase advanced US nuclear related technology for civilian power and reverses more than 30 years of US policy banning the export of nuclear material.
"Just as we partnered each other in the shaping of the knowledge economy, we have the opportunity today to become partners in developing the green economy of the future," he said.
The accord is seen as the centerpiece of the strong ties emerging between the two countries in recent years after decades of frosty Cold War relations.
Singh and Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, agreed to pursue the pact in 2005 to help India meet a higher thirst for energy to meet the vast needs of its fast growing economy.
The deal however, was controversial because India is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is designed to contain the spread of nuclear weapons and dangerous material.
