India urges strong rich country moves on climate

NEW DELHI:  The latest news related to the UN climate conference in Paris, which runs through Dec. 11. All times local:

8:55 a.m.

India's environment minister is urging industrialized nations to take strong action and make sacrifices to fight climate change, as Paris climate talks enter a second, crucial week.

 Prakash Javadekar said in a statement Sunday night that "India is here to ensure that rich countries pay back their debt for overdraft that they have drawn on the carbon space."

In a statement released in New Delhi, Javadekar warned that while negotiators were midway through the two-week climate talks, "substance-wise we are not midway but sometimes at crossroads."

He said India was "determined" to ensure these talks are not like past climate summits, "where we all returned home with false optimism and fictitious hopes."

Government ministers take over the negotiations in Paris Monday after technical teams submitted a draft accord Saturday on tackling global warming over the long term.