Parleys with key players for a coordinated position: Ramesh

I / Copenhagen December 18, 2009, 11:49 IST

-As world leaders raced against time to hammer out a deal to combat global warming, India today said it was working with the US and other key negotiators to try to work out a "coordinated" position at the climate change meet here.

US chief negotiator Todd Stern "expressed support for some of the elements but disagreed with some of the other elements that we have suggested. We are trying to work out a coordinated position," he told reporters here.

India and the US also held discussions on the contentious issue of monitoring, review and verification (MRV) and made some progress but there was no major breakthrough.

"Seventyfive per cent of the formula has been accepted," Ramesh said.

However, the remaining 25 per cent stems from the review mechanism issue where India insists that it will provide only information while the US is pushing for a mire consultative mechanism. "The Americans still want some review mechanism that we cannot agree to," he said.

After the meeting, Ramesh said that he told the Americans, "You should be transparent about the word transparency."

With negotiations reaching a final stage at the climate change meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here last night to lead the Indian delegation at the crucial talks.