India backs 'weak' draft of plastic treaty

ON the eve of the penultimate day of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty, talks are in deadlock — and India has thrown its weight behind the petrochemical-producing Like-Minded Countries (LMC), accepting a weakened draft text that drops production caps and chemical controls as merely a "starting point" for talks.

- TNIE in Switzerland S V Krishna Chaitanya @ Geneva

"We have some serious concerns on the text proposed by you, as we see many fundamental elements (scope) missing from the text," said Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), and head of India's delegation.

"Having said this, we consider this as a good enough starting point to further our work... We also urge other member states to have trust in your leadership and express their concern during the consultation process."