India set to ratify Paris climate change agreement at UN

A man carries a sack of vegetables as he walks past a polluted canal littered with plastic bags and other garbage in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. India is scheduled to deposit the ratification instruments of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change with the United Nations on Sunday, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint. India accounts for about 4.5 percent of emissions. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (The Associated Press)

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A boy sits on a bike next to a polluted canal littered with plastic bags and other garbage in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. India is scheduled to deposit the ratification instruments of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change with the United Nations on Sunday, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint. India accounts for about 4.5 percent of emissions. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (The Associated Press)

A man guides a raft through a polluted canal littered with plastic bags and other garbage in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. India is scheduled to deposit the ratification instruments of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change with the U.N. on Oct. 2, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint. India accounts for about 4.5 percent of emissions. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (The Associated Press)

NEW DELHI – An Indian official says the country will ratify the Paris climate change agreement at the United Nations on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet had given its approval Wednesday to ratify the Paris agreement on Oct. 2, coinciding with the birth anniversary of India's independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint.

Environment Ministry spokesman Himank Kothiyal said Sunday that ministry officials would hand over the ratification instruments to U.N. officials later in the day.

India accounts for around 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. So far, 61 countries have ratified the Paris agreement, accounting for 47.8 percent of global emissions, according to India's government.