India willing to consider concerns on BASIC draft

India today said that it was willing to accommodate concerns over the draft climate treaty it had circulated among G77 nations even as least developed countries expressed reservations on it.

“We are willing to accommodate everyone's concerns and other elements can be brought in. South Africa is doing precisely this,” said a senior negotiator. He said the draft circulated by India, Brazil, South Africa and China, referred to as the BASIC draft, was “rudimentary” and none of the interests of other countries were "left out by design”.

It was prepared expeditiously to counter the Danish draft which has not been circulated but shown to a handful of countries including India.

“This was just to give a sense that we are not comfortable with the Danish draft and its perspective is entirely different, so we had to come up with something quickly that could be presented as a counter,” said the negotiator.

Earlier, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) had voiced their reservations on the BASIC draft, which is considered as a document reflecting the concerns of the developing nations.

However, the LDCs said that their special situation was not very well appreciated by some fellow developing countries.