Asked repeatedly if India had diluted this position by signing a Major Economies' Forum declaration earlier this month which said it would be a good idea to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius, Ramesh said he did not think so, and that two degrees was only an 'aspirational goal', not something around which negotiations would be held.

The issue has generated much heat in parliament too, forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a similar clarification earlier this week.

Ramesh released a booklet that puts together the submissions that India has recently made to the UNFCCC as its contribution to the negotiation process, and said the country was primarily 'seeking to influence the outcome' in Copenhagen in areas of getting money for afforestation and for taking other steps to combat climate change, as well as cheap transfer of green technologies.

The minister said in his talks with Clinton, he had 'requested US support for these proposals' and reacted to criticism of India's position on climate talks in some sections of the western media by saying: 'We are not defensive, we are not obstructionist, we want an international agreement in Copenhagen'.