Published Paper Details:

The Climate diplomacy is an important arena where strength of India was felt and the policy steps taken by India ensured that its image becomes strong and its voice is heard. Using environment diplomacy to find a win-win solution to the problem of climate change whereby the challenges of climate crisis can be met even while maintaining India�s growth momentum has been an important component of the diplomacy of the UPA Government of India.� ����������� Among the various initiatives taken during 2004-14, India held a major role at global, regional and bilateral diplomatic negotiations, which also established India�s position for strong environment policies. This hypothesis can be verified by the efforts taken by India at the Cancun Summit in 2010, SAARC summit on Climate Change in Thimphu in 2010 and negotiations with Bangladesh on Sunderbans delta during the period. From 2010, SAARC nations also ensured to have a combined statement at UNFCCC, which helped in enhancing regional diplomatic structure and India�s opinion in multilateral forums.� � ����������� The initiatives taken during the period were so strong and necessary that they are still the bedrock for the policies of the present government. For example, the Paris(2015) commitments and the linked nationally determined contributions follow the templates of the commitments that were negotiated earlier. The regional forum also evolved during the period and the focus shifted to the necessities of the vulnerable SAARC countries as they could voice out their strong voices together since 2010. Adaptation became the most important issue in the discussion which was later culminated into commitment goals. A grouping helped South Asia to collectively bargain for more favourable deals. This diplomatic smoothness had not been garnered without strong measures at domestic policymaking like setting up of National Green Tribunal, formulation of India Climate Assessment Report, Indo-Bangladesh Sundarbans Eco-System Forum and National Action Plan on Climate Change. The national measures combined with bilateral, regional and global level environmental diplomacy by the UPA Government enabled India to persuade its interlocutors to appreciate India�s need for maintaining a robust economic growth to alleviate poverty even while putting into place measures to address the challenges of climate change.