By IANS,
New Delhi : India “does not require” international aid to fight climate change and is capable of standing “on our feet”, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
Countering Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley’s charge that India was not on the radar of the $100 billion a year fund that would be mobilised by 2020 to assist developing countries bring down their emission levels, the minister said categorically: “We don’t want international aid. We can stand on our feet.”
“Ten years from now, we could be selling green technology. Many Indian companies have seen business opportunities in this area. This is an opportunity for India to be moving ahead,” Ramesh contended in his reply to the debate in the house on the Copenhagen climate change summit.
“We don’t require international aid. India should be able to stand on its feet and say we will do what we do on our own,” he added.