Click to play videoNew Delhi: Climate change is a green issue that has just taken a political hue. Minister of State Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh has written to the Prime Minister asking for India to jump the Kyoto Protocol and submit to its own path for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
But once the letter was sent Ramesh lashed out at the press when newspersons asked him to elaborate on the contents. He said, "I don't want to say anything about the letter. I am at a SAARC meeting right now. If you want to talk about the letter then come to me after this."
The reason for his bad temper was that the letter - which was made public - has put him in a tight spot.
It asks for India to sidestep the Kyoto Protocol and take on greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments under a new deal which would help for a better realignment with the US.
The Kyoto Protocol asks developed countries to commit to emission cuts, but the US has not signed it and instead is asking that developing countries should agree to cuts in emissions. This despite the fact that India currently emits only 1.2 tonnes per capita of greenhouse gas while the US emits 20 tonnes of greenhouse gas.
Jairam Ramesh's move has shocked many climate change negotiators and environmentalists who believe this is a sellout to the West.
Director Center for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain says, "There is a pressure from US. When President Obama took charge, we thought there would be a change but the US position has become worse."
If accepted by the Government, Ramesh's proposal will radically shift India's stand. India has so far refused to legally binding emission targets on the grounds that it will compromise its development agenda.
It's a letter which is bound to have political ramifications. The BJP has already accused Jairam Ramesh of giving in to the US and in the build up to the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen, the green space has now become political.
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