Will India follow China, US to cut emissions?

The joint pledge taken by China and the United States, the two largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing in November to fight climate change took the world by surprise. But more than any other country, the China-US agreement, under which China will ensure its carbon emissions peak by 2030 and the US will reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels, has caught India by surprise. In fact, it has put pressure on India, the world's third-largest emitter, to devise ways to reduce its emissions (at least, that is what the informed world tends to believe).

Of course, global responsibility, even according to the now forgotten Kyoto Protocol - which the world allowed to expire in 2012 without having in place a succession treaty - and its common but differentiated responsibility clause, demands that India take some concrete action to reduce pollution. And there can be no second thoughts about this responsibility given that India is a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. But will India take the responsibility?

Perhaps casting an eye over the Indian media's response to the Sino-US deal would answer the question. But since perusing the entire Indian media, because of their diverse focus in dozens of languages, is impractical, let's glance at the English language media outlets, both print and audio-visual, as a representative sample. The English language media in India do not seem to have reacted much, however, to the China-US climate pact.