NEW DELHI—India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, will be keeping his position after apologizing for his comments that India's government was "paranoid" about Chinese investment, a spokesman for the prime minister's office said Thursday.

India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, at climate talks in New Delhi.

Mr. Ramesh's comments came over the weekend in Beijing, where he was attending a meeting on climate change. He said cooperation between India and China had improved since last year's meeting in Copenhagen on climate change but risked souring because of overly restrictive policies on Chinese investments and technology in India.

Mr. Ramesh singled out India's intelligence community and the interior ministry for being alarmist about Chinese investment. The comments, widely reported in the Indian media, sparked calls for his resignation.

Mr. Ramesh offered to step down on Monday, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who met with him on Wednesday, declined to accept his resignation, a spokesman for the prime minister's office said.

India and China sometimes cooperate in international negotiations. But in recent years, a growing tussle over trade and disputed territory on their shared borders has soured the relationship.

India leads all members of the World Trade Organization in antidumping cases against China. India has banned imports of Chinese toys, milk and chocolate, citing safety concerns, and has launched investigations into export surges of Chinese truck tires and chemicals, among other products.

Mr. Ramesh has become known on the global stage for taking a leading role in global climate negotiations. He has been a dogged proponent of the idea that developing countries shouldn't be asked to start cutting their greenhouse-gas emissions until developed nations, who have caused most of the emissions to date, act first. Chinese negotiators have taken a similar stance.