New Delhi - Indian opposition parties Monday staged a walkout from the parliament in protest at the government's "turnaround" on its position on climate change. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh tried to assure the lawmakers that the country's interests would not be compromised at the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen.
"There is no dilution in our stand. There is simply no compromise on India's national interest," Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the parliament.
India, the fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, recently announced that it planned to cut carbon intensity by 20 to 25 per cent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.
Ramesh told members of the house that the cut that India had announced was "purely voluntary and not internationally binding."
However, almost the entire opposition led by the main opposition party - the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - walked out, saying it was dissatisfied with the minister's reply.
The BJP members were later joined by lawmakers from the Communist and regional parties.
Opposition leader Arun Jaitley said that by announcing a unilateral emission intensity cut of 20-25 per cent by 2020, India was following a "bad strategy."
He said the government was completely altering its stance that India would not accept any legally binding cuts and would strictly follow the principle of per capita reductions.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, who is to be part of the Indian parliamentary delegation for the summit, accused the government of submitting to US pressure.
He said even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was under pressure from Washington to attend. But Ramesh rejected the accusation, saying there was no foreign pressure.
As many as 193 countries are participating in the summit that began Monday and is scheduled to continue till December 18 to reach a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto protocol that expires in 2012.
