India's Environment Minister Rebuffs Clinton's Climate Change Proposals

India's environment minister bluntly rebuffed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday, telling her his developing nation won't bow to climate change rules imposed by a country that spent the last 200 years ignoring the environment while it built up its own economy.

Minister Jairam Ramesh said his country is not ignorant to the impact of manufacturing and carbon emissions on the environment, but will not commit to a deal that would require India to reduce emissions while it is trying to grow.

"There is simply no case for the pressure that we -- who have among the lowest emissions per capita -- face to actually reduce emissions," Ramesh told Clinton during her two-day visit to Mumbai that was meant to improve U.S.-India relations.

"And as if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours," he said. "India's position is that we are simply not in a position to take on legally binding emission reduction. Now, that does not mean that we are oblivious of our responsibilities…We are fully conscious of that. Energy efficiency is a very fundamental driver of our economic strategy."

Ramesh added that India's growth is "not going to create havoc, as far as global warming is concerned."

"We are committed to clean energy. We are committed to following a consumption factor that is sensitive to climate change," he said.

While Clinton said Ramesh presented a "fair argument," she said India's case "loses force" because the country's absolute level of carbon emissions is "going up, and dramatically."

The secretary of state, however, expressed optimism over reaching a climate change deal that will satisfy both countries.

"This is part of a negotiation," she said. "It's part of a give-and-take and it's multilateral, which makes it even more complex. But until proven otherwise, I'm going to continue to speak out in favor of every country doing its part to deal with the challenge of global climate change."

Clinton also said the U.S. and other countries "that have been the biggest historic emitters of greenhouse gases should shoulder the biggest burden for cleaning up the environment and reducing our carbon footprint."

"And certainly President Obama has put our country on the path to doing that," she said.

"The United States does not and will not do anything that would limit India's economic progress," she added.

Clinton on Monday touted prospects for strengthening U.S.-India relations and prepared to sign at least one agreement designed to give U.S. companies more access to India's expanding markets

"We want to broaden and deepen our strategic understanding" and find more common ground with India, Clinton told an audience of several hundred students and faculty members at Delhi University. She said she would announce later Monday a more comprehensive approach to U.S.-India relations, to include talks on energy security, agriculture reform, education and counterterrorism.

Clinton later met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and was to hold separate talks with Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna to discuss forging a more productive partnership between two countries still struggling to overcome profound distrust rooted in Cold War rivalries.

The Obama administration regards India as an emerging world power and a key to turning the tide against violent Islamic extremism.

In her session with Singh, Clinton presented an Obama invitation for a state visit Nov. 24 and the prime minister accepted, Clinton aides said.

Clinton, on her fourth visit to India and her first as secretary of state, used her appearance at Delhi University to stress the importance of stepping beyond formal diplomacy to encourage U.S.-India contacts on other levels, including academic and business.

"We have to get to the real meat of the matter, and our cooperation will do that for us," she told her university audience.

Clinton was expected to sign an agreement enabling U.S. companies sell nuclear reactors to India, and possibly another on defense sales.

The nuclear deal would give American companies exclusive rights to sell nuclear power plants at specified locations in India -- an opportunity that could be worth $10 billion for U.S. sellers. A second deal, which officials said they hoped would also be ready for signing Monday, is known as an end-use monitoring agreement that would give the U.S. the right to ensure that U.S. arms sold to India are used for their intended purpose and that the technology is not resold or otherwise provided to third countries.

In an interview with the TV station NDTV on Sunday, Clinton said she wants to discuss what she called India's more benign interpretation of Iran's intentions, particularly regarding Iran's disputed presidential election and its nuclear program. Clinton was pressed to say whether she is worried that India has a different view of Iran, which the U.S. sees as a supporter of terrorist groups, an obstacle to Mideast peace and a threat to build a nuclear bomb.

"I'm not concerned yet. I want to understand why it is and why it is held," she said, referring to India's view.

FOX News' James Rosen and the Associated Press contributed to this report.