Green expectations from the much-awaited meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appear to have been belied with the two leaders maintaining status quo at a briefing on Sunday.

While Modi and Obama referred to cooperation on the issues of renewable energy and climate change, there was no significant change from the joint statement of September 30, 2014, following Modi’s visit to the US.

Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director-General of the Centre for Science and Technology, said: “It looks like no major breakthrough has happened. This clearly brings out that there is still significant disagreement between India and the US on climate change.”

Dismissing that there was pressure on India following a deal between the US and China on emission targets, Modi said: “India is an independent country and there is no pressure on us from any country or person (on climate change). (However) Climate change and global warming are huge pressures. (There is) pressure on all countries.”

While expectations were rife that India and the US will sign a deal on clean energy, if not on emission targets, India is clearly not willing to respond to any US pressure on the issue. On his part, Obama said: “No country is going to be more important in moving forward (on climate change ahead of the crucial UN summit on climate change in Paris this year) than India.” He added the two countries will continue to work on a number of clean energy goals, phasing out of HFCs (hydroflurocarbons), besides working on improving the air quality in Indian cities.

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