Times of India , Monday, April 21, 2008

Correspondent : Neha Lalchandani

WASHINGTON: President George W Bush has told another visiting leader that a new international regime on climate change is not going to work without the full participation of fast-growing countries like India and China. "How can you possibly have an international agreement that's effective unless countries like China and India are not [sic] full participants," he said at a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak at Camp David presidential retreat on Saturday. "And that's why I assured him (Lee)...that hopefully by the time we get to G8 (advanced nations summit on climate in Japan in July) there's a serious effort by all major economies to become active participants in an effective strategy to deal with this issue." Bush said they "talked about our mutual desire to have a rational, practical approach to international climate, the international climate issue, global warming" in the context of the 16 "Major Economies Meeting," in Paris, the third in a series launched by him last September. The objective of the new initiative among major economies is to come up with a common approach that will contribute to the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention of global climate once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The President said he had assured Lee "I meant what I said in my speech in the Rose Garden", when he sought a post-Kyoto regime that encompasses every major economy "and gives none a free ride". Bush had told visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday that his plan to reduce US emissions by 2025 "was in clear recognition that unless countries like China and India are at the table, any agreement is not going to work." In reply to a question about their relationship with China, Bush said: "It's going to be very important as 21st century alliance recognises that China is an opportunity for both nations to engage in a constructive way. "We have our problems with China, of course, whether it be human rights or how the Chinese leadership deals with the Dalai Lama or with Burma - a variety of issues. "On the other hand, you can either have a constructive relationship - we can work constructively with China - or we can have a destructive relationship," Bush said. "I've chosen to have a constructive relationship."

SOURCE : Times of India, Monday, April 21, 2008