New Delhi, July 29 - India has not changed its climate policy and the declaration at the Major Economic Forum adopted at L'Aquila, Italy, is not a declaration of India's climate change policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday.

Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha, Manmohan Singh said: 'Nor is it a bilateral declaration between India and another country or a group of countries. It is a declaration that represents a shared view among 17 developed and developing countries, the latter category including China, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico. Therefore, the formulations are necessarily generally worded to reflect different approaches and positions of a fairly diverse group of countries.'

The prime minister described as 'a one-sided and misleading interpretation' the criticism that the reference in the declaration that global temperature increase should not exceed two degrees Celsius represented a significant shift in India's position on climate change and that it may oblige the country to accept emission reduction targets.

'It is India's view, which has been consistently voiced at all forums, that global warming is taking place and that its adverse consequences will impact most heavily on developing countries like India,' Manmohan Singh said.

'The reference in a document to two degrees Celsius increase as a possible threshold reflects a prevalent scientific opinion internationally and only reinforces what India has been saying about the dangers from global warming.'

The prime minister accepted that that this was the first time India had accepted a reference to two degrees Celsius as a possible threshold guiding global action, 'but this is entirely in line with our stated position on global warming'.

'Drawing attention to the seriousness of global warming does not automatically translate into a compulsion on the part of India or other developing countries represented in the Major Economic Forum to accept emission reduction obligations,' he added.