India, US headed for a face-off at Paris climate summit

INDIA and the US appeared headed for a face-off at the Paris climate summit that started Monday with the world’s biggest democracies divided over who should share the larger blame for greenhouse gas emission and, therefore, do more towards mitigating it.

Ahead of the high-stakes talks to be attended by negotiators from 196 countries, New Delhi and Washington have already engaged in a verbal war with US secretary of state John Kerry describing India as the “biggest challenge” for the Paris summit. India hit back by terming his remarks as “unfortunate” and “ill-timed.”