By Manish Chand
Washington, Nov 24 (IANS) Setting aside their differences over climate change, India and the US Tuesday decided to forge a green partnership and resolved to work for a substantive outcome at the Cophenhagen summit.

“President Obama and I agreed on the need for a substantive and comprehensive outcome, which would cover mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama after their talks.

We reaffirmed our intention to work to this end bilaterally and with all other countries, he added.

“Just as we partnered each other in the shaping of the knowledge economy, we have the opportunity today to become partners in developing the green economy,” he said.

Underlining India’s desire to benefit from clean and energy efficient technologies from the US, Manmohan Singh stressed that the India-US partnership will contribute to global efforts to combat climate change and achieve energy security.

With just weeks to go before the Dec 7-18 Copenhagen international summit on climate change that seeks to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol, Obama stressed on “the need for all countries to do what is necessary to reach a strong operational agreement that will confront the threat of climate change while serving as a stepping stone to a legally binding treaty.”

“And to that end, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and I made important progress today,” he said.

Lauding India’s leadership in areas like green buildings and energy efficiency, Obama announced that the two countries have agreed to launch a clean energy initiative, a green partnership to reduce poverty through sustainable and equitable development and a historic effort to phase out subsidies on fossil fuels.

India has consistently advocated the position of the differential responsibilities of developed and developing countries over carbon reduction targets.

New Delhi wants developed countries to take deeper cuts and refused to accept any reduction target on grounds that such targets would affect prospects of economic growth in developing countries.