India has ruled out any dilution of its stand on climate change issue. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who is in Copenhagen to participate in the global summit on climate change, told media persons that New Delhi's national voluntary domestic measures to tackle global warming were not up for international scrutiny. Progress on these would be checked by country's Parliament.He also made it clear that it will not agree to the concept of peaking year as it will adversely impact the development of rural electricity in the country which is already facing a huge backlog in this area.<br/><br/>In a related development, the two super powers, China and the United States could not arrive at any decision setting the UN talks on edge. On key issues ranging from sharing the burden of slashing greenhouse gases, monitoring and climate debt to be paid to the poor nations by the United States, the world's two largest carbon polluters were at loggerheads. AIR correspondent reports, China has also come under pressure from poorer nations who see their interests diverging from the Asian giant with which they have been long been aligned in the G-77.<br/><br/>Washington — which rejected the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, has pushed China and other emerging giants to take on more ambitious targets. China, for its part, has ridiculed the US offer to cut CO2 output by 17 percent from a 2005 benchmark as puny, and a far cry from the levels called for by science.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, countries in the Asian region which are expected to be greatly impacted by the climate change have been urged to develop action plans and take steps to face the challenge. The call was made in the Delhi declaration adopted at the fifth Asian region conference on irrigation and drainage which concluded in New Delhi yesterday. The declaration says that in view of the adverse impact of global warming on agriculture and water resources and the growing population, industrialisation and urbanisation, there is an urgent need for implementing various strategies to boost agriculture production and use the available water efficiently. It is also called for streamlining the overall performance of irrigation and drainage sector through the synergy of agriculture and water policies. Our correspondent says that nearly 70 per cent of the world's irrigated area in Asian region and agricultural water management is crucial to cope with the demand of the food and elevation of poverty especially in rural areas.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, thousands of climate activists rallied today to highlight the need for sealing a "real deal" during the U.N.-led climate change talks. The rally came as ministers arrived for the segment of the U.N.-led climate talks tasked with achieving goals to avoid climate changes that scientists warn could be disastrous to the Earth. The activists converged on the Parliament Square, holding banners and listening to green-clad speakers. Some of the activists called on the developed countries to commit to deep emission cuts and deliver on pledges of financial and technological support to help the developing nations adapt to climate change.