New Delhi, July 12: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the media on board his special plane on Friday night, while returning to India after attending the G8 Summit 2009 in Italy. National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan is seated next to him.
New Delhi: India recognised its responsibility to control its greenhouse gas emissions and will do its bit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists during an interaction on board the special aircraft bringing him from Rome to New Delhi.
“We are not able to undertake quantified emission reduction targets, but we are also quite clear that as citizens of the global economy we have an obligation to do our bit to control emissions and therefore all countries have an obligation to be prepared to depart from business as usual,” he said in reply to a question on where India stood with regard to greenhouse gas emissions.
In his statements at the Major Economies Forum summit on energy and climate change, he had said India was quite alive to the dangers of climate change and in fact climate change was already taking place. He had also presented India’s climate action plan and outlined the eight national missions to address the issue.
“We are willing to do more provided there are credible arrangements to provide additional financial support as well as technological transfers from developed to developing countries so that green, sustainable development can really become an effective instrument of strengthening the atmosphere to tackle climate change,” Dr. Singh added.
“Some important gains”
In reply to a question if he saw his second term as Prime Minister as different from his first, he said it was a continuation of the journey. The role of the government was to enable the country to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease and the government had made “some important gains” in the last five years. These included imparting a stronger growth momentum to the economy, inclusive social and economic development and putting in place social safety nets to soften the harsh edges of extreme poverty.
It was a long and arduous journey and the challenge was to take full advantage of the instrumentalities now in place for inclusive growth to plug the loopholes, reduce leakages and ensure that these instruments become more effective. In addition, the government would aim at accelerated growth, more inclusive development and a greater emphasis on rural development and agriculture.
“So it is a continuation of the journey we undertook for five years with renewed commitment, with renewed determination even though we must recognise that the international environment is not as supportive as we had imagined at one time,” Dr. Singh said.
Asked about the view of the government on the Delhi High Court judgement striking down the part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (unnatural offences) in so far as it applied to consenting adults, and whether the government would appeal against it, the Prime Minister said he had not discussed the matter with his Cabinet colleagues.
“I will seek their views as to whether anything further needs to be done or said in this regard,” he said.
Asked whether the appointment of Mr. Nandan Nilekani as Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India presaged the bringing of more experts into government from outside, Dr. Singh said he would like to involve more intellectuals in the process of governance.
There was an “enormous reserve of knowledge, wisdom and experience available outside the political system” that had to be harnessed in the service of the people. He would do it “at a pace at which it does not create any side effects.”
“I think Nandan Nilekani’s appointment has been widely welcomed, and I sincerely hope that in course of time we can enlarge the involvement of top intellectual elements in the processes of governance,” Dr. Singh said.
–PTI