NEW DELHI: After three days of bare-knuckled fight, India, backed by the Asia Pacific group, claimed a victory at the Bonn climate negotiations with its nominee being declared co-chair of the most important track of climate change talks which will thrash out a new global climate regime by 2015, along with western Europe's candidate from Norway.
India's chief negotiator till last year, J M Mauskar, who retired as special secretary from the government recently, was nominated by the Asia Pacific group to head what is called the Ad-hoc Working Group on Durban Platform. This track of talks is mandated to negotiate a new global regime which could considerably change the balance of equations between developing and developed world's responsibilities.
While the chair of these tracks are officially expected to play a neutral role, the developing world has often complained of the talks being dragged towards the interests of select countries by those heading it. The Indian candidature came as a mark of the first spirited defence by the largely developing world bloc to have a fair say in future talks.
Sources said the European Union and the US all through had been pushing that this track of negotiations focus on increasing emission reduction targets from the developing world even before 2020. A convenient person in the chair to head the track would have helped push the agenda without a check.
Two other nominees were competing for the top slot. The one from Norway was backed by western Europe and their allies and another from Trinidad and Tobago was backed by Latin America and Caribbean nations.
The Indian nominee had a solid claim considering the Asia Pacific region has been seldom represented at the top with the other two groupings having occupied at least 15 or more similar positions in the last 20 years.
