Sino-Indian cooperation at the climate change negotiations: The past, the present and the future

India and China have been cooperating with each other at the climate change negotiations since the inception of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. The chapter makes a case that although the road has not been very smooth and has not been free of differences, the two powers have been at the forefront of decision-making in global climate governance and in this exercise, cooperation has been more prominent than competition or rivalry. The chapter analyzes the goals and positions of India at the negotiations within the larger framework of the North-South conflict and South-South cooperation. Whether it is the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) or the bottom-up approach toward climate change mitigation, concerns expressed by both countries have largely been similar, especially since they have championed the cause of equity and climate justice for safeguarding the developing countries’ right to develop. The chapter explains the manner in which India and China have played an influential role in shaping the technicalities and modalities of various climate mechanisms in the context of their relations with other developing and least developed countries (LDC). The chapter argues that by building more South-South cooperation mechanisms related to climate change issues, India and China can bring about a just and equitable global climate order that assists developing and LDC in tackling climate change that affects them the most.