PM Narendra Modi could make or break US President  Barack Obama’s climate legacy

#Paris /#France: Since #PM #NarendraModi came to power, #US President Barack Obama has not missed many opportunities to convey what a warm rapport he has forged with the Indian leader.

There was the admiring essay about #PM #NarendraModi that #US President #BarackObama wrote in Time magazine, and the image of them tete-a-tete at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in #Washington, their entourages left behind . Barack  Obama’s national security adviser said the two men had “chemistry,” and expressed confidence that #American interests made it “worth the investment in the relationship.”

Exactly how much that investment has paid off will become clear this week during the climate negotiations on the outskirts of Paris, where India, the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas polluter, has emerged as a pivotal player in shaping the outcome of a deal on which#BarackObama hopes to build his legacy — or whether a deal emerges at all. So far, Indian negotiators have publicly staked out an uncompromising position.

India embodies a critical tension that will play out in Paris between developed nations like the United States, which are calling for universal emissions cuts, and developing nations like India, which say they deserve to increase fossil fuel use as their economies grow or else receive billions of dollars to transition to cleaner energy.

After #NarendraModi  met #BarackObama on Monday — their sixth meeting in 14 months — he told reporters that the two leaders had “such a deep relationship that we are able to openly discuss all issues,” and said that he was happy to work “shoulder to shoulder with the United States.”

But in an earlier speech on Monday, #PM #NarendraModi said climate change was not India’s fault, and blamed it firmly on “the prosperity and progress of an industrial age powered by fossil fuel.”But we in India face its consequences today,” he said.NYT